LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


OF 


I 


SYLLABIFICATION    AND   ACCENT 


IN    THE 


PARADISE  LOST 


A    DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  BOARD  OF  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES 

OF  THE  JOHNS  HOPKINS  UNIVERSITY  FOR  THE 

DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY. 


BY 


GEORGE    DOBBIN    BROWN. 


BALTIMORE 

JOHN    MURPHY    COMPANY 
1 901 


Jtl 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

PAGE. 
Metrical  views  of 

Bridges • 1 

Dr.  Johnson 3 

Guest 5 

Poe 10 

Ellis 11 

Masson 12 

Abbott  and  Seeley 13 

Lanier 15 

Schipper 17 

Mayor 18 

Gummere 21 

Symonds 22 

Editors  of  the  Arden  Shakespeare 24 

Konig 27 

Robertson 28 

Lewis . .  29 


PART  I.— SYLLABIFICATION. 

A.    WITHIN  A  WORD. 
a.    Synizesis  and  dieresis. 

1.  a  before  or  after  tonic  vowel 34 

2.  a  -f-  atonic  vowel 35 

3.  e  before  or  after  tonic  vowel 35 

4.  e-\-  atonic  vowel 36 

5.  i  before  or  after  tonic  vowel 36 

6.  i-\-  atonic  vowel 37 

7.  o  before  or  after  tonic  vowel 38 

8.  o  +  atonic  vowel 38 

9.  u  before  or  after  tonic  vowel • 38 

10.  u  -f-  atonic  vowel 38 

11.  Other  tonic  combinations 39 

iii 


J 17321 


IV  CONTENTS. 

PAGK. 

£.    Development  of  syllabic  nasals  and  liquids  and  consequent  symzesis  with  con- 
tiguous syllables 40 

I.    The  syllabic  nasal  or  liquid  undergoes  synizesis  with  atonic  vowel : 

bordering  >  bordr-ing  >  bordring 40 

40 

41 

41 

42 

II  a.  Development  of  syllabic  liquid  or  nasal  from  vowel-\-  liquid  or  nasal,  and 

consequent  synizesis  with  tonic  syllable:  f  alien  >falln>falln...AQ,  43 

/ 44 

m 44 

7i 44 

r 45 

II  b.    Development  of  syllabic  r  from  r  -\-  vowel,  and  consequent  synizesis 

with  tonic  vowel :  flourishing  >  flou-r-sking  >jftourshing 40,  46 

r 46 

y.   Syncopation 46 

B.   SYLLABIFICATION  BETWEEN  WORDS. 

Customary  elisions 47 

Less  usual  elisions 48 

Apocope  and  apheresis 49 


PAKT  II.  —  NUMBEK  AND  POSITION  OF  ACCENTS. 

Professor  Bright' s  metrical  theory . 51 

Symbols  and  terms 54 


1-4.    Light  and  Heavy  iambs. 

1.  Light  iamb 56 

2.  Heavy  iamb 56 

3.  Light  -f-  heavy  iamb — Conflict  of  stresses 56 

a.  Conflict  between  two  words 57 

b.  Conflict  between  two  syllables  of  one  word 57 

List  of  words  like  against  used  in  descending  rhythm 57 

c.  The  relation  of  light  -{-  heavy  iamb  to  triple  rhythm 58 

4.  Erroneous  scansion  of  light  -f-  heavy  iamb  by  anapaestic  postponement 

of  arsis 59 

5.  Trochaic  substitution 60 

Trochee  -}-  heavy  iamb  compared  to  E  * 61 


CONTENTS.  V 

6-8.    Unstable  iamb  in  normal  environment. 

PAGE. 

6.  Final  unstable  iamb 62 

7.  The  non-csesural  unstable  iamb  formed  by  one  word 62 

List  of  unstable  iambs 63 

8.  The  unstable  iamb  formed  by  two  words 65 

9-11.    The  unstable  iamb  in  combination  with  other  feet 
than  stable  iambs. 

9.  Trochee  -+-  unstable  iamb 66 

10.  Unstable  iamb  -f-  heavy  iamb 67 

11.  Unstable  iamb  +  unstable  iamb 68 

12-13.    Light  iamb  +  unstable  iamb. 

12.  Light  iamb  -f-  unstable  iamb  -}-  stable  iamb 68 

13.  Light  iamb  +  unstable  iamb  +  heavy  iamb 69 

The  accent  of  various  words 70 

Life..  75 


«Jf>TWTRODUCTION. 


UN  .ITY 


In  a  recent  number  of  The  Academy  Mr.  Le  Gallienne  regrets 
that  Sidney  Lanier  spent  his  precious  time  and  energy  in  the 
composition  of  The  Science  of  English  Verse.  "  I  wonder,"  he 
says,  "whom  these  learned  treatises  on  metre  benefit.  Not  the 
poets,  I  am  thinking.  I  imagine  that  Mr.  Stephen  Phillips 
would  have  written  as  good  blank  verse  though  Mr.  Robert 
Bridges's  treatise  on  Miltonic  blank  verse  had  never  seen  that 
dim  light  of  publicity  vouchsafed  to  technical  masterpieces." 

We  are  not  concerned  with  that  part  of  Mr.  Le  Gallienne's 
criticism  which  expresses  contempt  of  learned  treatises  on  metre. 
Such  deliverances  on  the  part  of  critics  of  the  class  to  which 
Mr.  Le  Gallienne  belongs  upon  the  futility  of  the  scientific  study 
of  aesthetic  phenomena  delight,  of  course,  the  art-amateur  for 
whom  they  are  especially  composed.  But  the  conscientious 
investigator  against  whom  they  are  directed  is  to  an  even 
greater  extent  amused.  And  so  no  harm  is  done. 

The  part  of  the  criticism  to  which  I  would  call  attention  is 
its  estimate  of  Bridges's  essay,  for  Mr.  Le  Gallienne  expresses 
the  general  judgment  which  has  been  passed  upon  that  work. 
Mr.  Bridges's  treatise,  Milton's  Prosody,  Oxford,  1894,  is  con- 
sidered an  excellent  exposition  of  the  underlying  principles  of 
Miltonic  blank  verse.  What,  then,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  need 
of  another  such  study? 

Metricians  are  agreed  upon  the  type-line  in  blank  verse. 
Dramatic  blank  verse  differs  from  this  norm  often  very  widely, 
and  may  therefore  be  termed  free.  With  such  variations  we  are 
not  concerned.  Non-dramatic  blank  verse,  on  the  other  hand, 
as  in  Milton,  Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  adheres  much  more  closely 
to  the  model  and  may  be  termed  strict.  Even  in  strict  blank 
verse,  however,  variations  from  the  norm  are  frequent.  It  is 

1 


2  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

with  the  nature  of  these  variations  from  the  norm  in  Milton's 
blank  verse  (both  epic  and  dramatic)  that  the  nucleus  (pp.  7-45) 
of  Mr.  Bridges's  paper  deals,  all  the  fundamental  questions  being 
touched  upon  in  the  part  concerning  Paradise  Lost  (pp.  7-23). 
On  page  6  Mr.  Bridges  defines  a  regular  blank  verse  as  having 

(1)  ten  syllables, 

(2)  and  five  verse-stresses, 

(3)  which  fall  on  the  even  syllables. 

This  is  a  satisfactory  definition  of  the  typical  line.  But  a 
number  of  variations  are  allowed,  and  it  is  with  the  nature 
and  extent  of  these  variations  that  the  metrician  is  chiefly 
concerned. 

With  regard  to  (1),  Mr.  Bridges  decides  that,  with  the  exception 
of  a  final  light  eleventh  syllable  making  a  feminine  ending,  there 
are  no  supernumerary  syllables,  those  which  apparently  occur 
being  obviated  by  elision.  He  is  thus  enabled  to  scan  the  verses 
of  Milton  without  recourse  to  trisyllabic  feet.  In  this  we  fully 
agree  with  him.  There  is  required,  however,  a  somewhat  fuller 
account  of  this  matter,  which  we  shall  attempt  in  Part  I  of  this 
study. 

With  reference  to  Milton's  usage  under  (2)  and  (3),  we  hold  that 
Mr.  Bridges  is  altogether  wrong.  Under  (2)  he  thinks  we  may 
have  an  unstressed  foot  or  pyrrhic  (  u  u ).  Thus  he  gets  lines 
of  only  four,  and  even  of  but  three,  accents.  It  is  strange  that 
he  does  not  in  like  manner  go  to  the  other  extreme  of  finding 

feet  with  two  verse-accents,  as  in  this  new  world,  and  thus  getting 
a  line  of  more  than  five  verse-stresses.  Of  course  we  do  fre- 
quently have  two  unstressed,  as  well  as  two  stressed,  syllables 
used  as  a  verse-foot.  But  in  each  case  there  is  one  and  only 
one  ictus  (or  verse-stress).  Just  how  this  is  managed  is  considered 
in  Part  II. 

In  the  matter  of  (3)  the  distribution  of  the  five  verse-stresses,  we 
shall  find  that  a  variation  in  the  position  of  an  ictus  results  in 
the  substitution  of  a  trochee  for  an  iamb.  The  restrictions  to 
trochaic  substitution  are  three : — 

(a)  It  may  not  occur  in  the  final  foot. 

(b)  It  may  not  occur  in  two  successive  feet. 

(c)  It  may  occur  only  initially  and  after  a  caesura. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  3 

In  these  several  aspects  of  (3),  also,  Mr.  Bridges  errs.  A  retreat- 
ment  of  this  subject  is  therefore  desirable.  This  we  have  attempted 
in  Part  II. 

Before  passing  to  a  study  of  Miltonic  blank  verse,  we  shall 
briefly  indicate  the  teachings  of  various  other  metricians,  some 
of  whom  are  concerned  with  Milton  in  particular,  while  others 
discuss  the  subject  of  blank  verse  in  general.  It  will  be  necessary 
to  state  the  opinions  of  each  upon  the  three  points  mentioned 
above : — 

(1)  The  number  of  syllables  in  the  line, — false  theories  allowing 
trisyllabic  feet;  (2)  the  number  of  verse-stresses  in  the  line, — 
false  theories  allowing  the  typical  number  of  five  to  be  increased 
or  diminished  ;  (3)  the  disposition  of  the  stresses.  Here  two 
kinds  of  erroneous  scansion  are  possible  :  (a)  improper  use  of 
trochaic  substitution  ;  (/3)  just  the  inverse  of  trochaic  substitu- 
tion is  the  method  of  scansion  which  may  be  termed  anapestic 

postponement  of  the  ictus.     It  is  illustrated  by 

.  x  x      /        im 
Pursues  as  inclination  or  sad  choice.    II  524. 

This  kind  of  scansion  is  never  to  be  tolerated.     The  line  must 

be  read 

x    /      x       / 
Pursues  an  inclination  or  \  sad  choice. 

In  his  four  papers1  on  Milton's  versification  in  the  Rambler 
for  the  year  1751,  Dr.  Johnson  makes  no  very  explicit  statement 
us  to  (1)  the  number  of  syllables  in  the  poet's  epic  line;  but  from 
two  passages  we  may  gather  that  he  considered  a  hypermetric 
syllable  to  be  allowable  only  when  final.  'In  the  first  of  these 
passages  he  recognizes  (though  in  general  censuring)  the  large 
r6le  which  elision  plays  in  Milton's  verse.  Thus  for  example 
he  scans  IV  249,  and  VII  236, 

If  truey  here  only  and  of  delicious  taste. 

And  vital  virtue  infused,  and  vital  warmth. 

"  I  believe  every  reader  will  agree,"  he  says,  referring  to  these 
and  other  lines,  "  that  in  all  those  passages,  though  not  equally 
in  all,  the  music  is  injured,  and  in  some  the  meaning  obscured. 
There  are  other  lines  in  which  the  vowel  is  cut  off,  but  is  so 

1  Nos.  86,  88,  90,  94. 


4  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

faintly  pronounced  in  common  speech  that  the  loss  of  it  is 
scarcely  perceived ;  and,  therefore,  such  compliance  with  the 
measure  may  be  allowed."  Among  examples  of  the  less  undesir- 
able usage  he  cites 

They  viewed  the  vast  immensurable  abyss,    VII  211. 

Yet  even  such  contractions,  he  thinks,  increase  "  the  roughness  of 
a  language  too  rough  already ;  and  though  in  long  poems  they 
may  be  sometimes  suffered,  it  .can  never  be  faulty  to  forbear 
them." 

"  Milton,"  he  continues,  in  the  second  passage  above  referred 
to,  "  frequently  uses  in  his  poems  the  hypermetrical  or  redundant 
line  of  eleven  syllables 

I  also  err'd  in  overmuch  admiring.    IX  1178." 
These   passages   would   show  that   the   extra-metric   syllable   is, 
according  to  Johnson's  view,  always  to  be  obviated  by  elision, 
except  when  forming  the  feminine  ending  to  a  line. 

With  regard  to  (2)  the  number  of  stresses,  Dr.  Johnson  says 
"  In  some  [lines]  the  accent  is  equally  upon  two  syllables  together, 
and  in  both  strong;  as  [the  last  two  syllables  in] 

Thus  at  their  shady  lodge  arriv'd,  both  stood.    IV  720. 
...     In   others  the  accent   is  equally   upon   two  syllables,  but 
upon  both  weak,  [as  the  first  foot  of] 

And  when  they  seek,  as  now,  thy  gift  of  sleep.  IV  735." 
These  usages,  which  Johnson  considers  to  some  degree  '  licentious/ 
are  examples  of  what  he  calls  the  mixed  measure,  "  in  which 
some  variation  of  the  accents  is  allowed ;  this,  though  it  always 
injures  the  harmony  of  the  line  considered  by  itself,  yet  compen- 
sates the  loss  by  relieving  us  from  the  continual  tyranny  of  the 
same  sound,  and  makes  us  more  sensible  of  the  harmony  of  the 
pure  measure." 

He  does  not  explain  how  in  these  and  like  examples  the 
arsis  is  distinguished  from  the  other  equally  accented  syllable 
in  the  foot, — how,  in  other  words,  these  lines  are  not  lines  of 
six  and  four  arses  respectively. 

(3)  Dr.  Johnson  sets  a  limit  to  trochaic  substitution.  He  says 
"  In  the  first  pair  of  syllables  the  accent  may  deviate  from  the 
rigour  of  exactness,  without  any  unpleasing  diminution  of  har- 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  5 

mony  .  .  .  But,  excepting  in  the  first  pair  of  syllables,  which 
may  be  considered  as  arbitrary,  a  poet  .  .  .  should  seldom  suffer 
more  than  one  aberration  from  the  rule  in  any  single  verse." 

This  expression  does  not  rule  out  the  final  trochee,  successive 
trochees,  or  the  non-csesural  trochee. 

The  terminology  used  in  Dr.  Guest's  History  of  English 
Rhythms,  1838  (Skeat's  edition,  London,  1882),  is  too  unusual 
to  be  introduced  here ;  moreover  the  principle  upon  which  this 
terminology  is  based,  namely  that  the  section  is  the  unit  of 
verse,  has  not  been  found  serviceable  by  English  metricians. 
It  is  easy,  however,  to  point  out  what  his  system  allows  as 
to  the  (1)  number  of  syllables,  and  (2)  the  number  and  (3) 
position  of  accents. 

(1)  The  number  of  syllables.  Dr.  Guest  often  obviates  extra- 
metric  syllables.  "  The  synalsepha  or  coalition  [or  synclisis]  of  two 
vowels,"  he  says,  (Skeat's  ed.  p.  68  f.),  "  is  now  tolerable  in  very 
few  instances.  .  .  .  Formerly  this  union  of  vowels  was  far 
more  general."  Milton  pushed  this  liberty,  "as  every  other 
license,  to  the  utmost." 

In  the  matter  of  what  he  terms  elision,  or  what  is  more 
commonly  known  as  syncopation  (which,  however,  we  believe  to 
be  more  properly  a  species  of  synizesis),  Dr.  Guest  approves  of 
the  printing  of  the  earlier  editions,  which  indicated  when  a  word 
was  thus  shortened.  "Of  late  years,  however,  the  fashionable 
opinion  has  been  that  in  such  cases  the  vowel  may  be  pronounced 
without  injury  to  the  rhythm.  Thelwall  discovered  in  Milton 
'an  appoggiatura,  or  syllable  more  than  is  counted  in  the  bar/ 
and  was  of  opinion  that  such  syllables  '  constitute  an  essential 
part  of  the  expressive  harmony  of  the  best  writers,  and  should 
never  in  typography  or  utterance  be  superseded  by  the  barbarous 
expedient  of  elision/  He  marks  them  with  the  short  quantity, 
and  reads  the  following  verses  one  with  twelve,  and  the  otCer 
with  thirteen  syllables  ! 

u  u 

Covering  the  beach,  and  blackening  all  the  strand.    Dryden. 

u  u  u 

Ungrateful  offering  to  the  immortal  powers.    Pope."  (p.  175  f.) 
We  thus  see  that  Dr.  Guest  would  generally  do  away  with 
extra- metric  syllables  in  the  strict  heroic  line,  and  he  accordingly 


6  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

properly  considers  ominous  as  dissyllabic  in  II  123, 
Om(i)nous  conjecture  on  the  whole  success. 
Thus  too  he  considers  ethereal  trisyllabic  and  elides  the  e  of  the  in 

145, 

x        x        / 
Hurl'd  headlong  flaming  from  \  th*  ethe\real  sky  \ . 

We  are  therefore  much  surprised  to  find  him  carefully  indicating 

trisyllabic  feet  in : 

x      x    / 
II  450,  Me  from  attempting  where\fore  do  I  assume. 

X  121,  So  dreadful  to  thee  f   That  \  thou  art  na\ked  who. 
and  in  a  number  of  other  lines. 

Especially  noteworthy  is  this  misscansion, 

x         x   / 
VII  592,  Now  resting,  blessed  and  hal\lowjd  the  se\venth  day. 

when  we  note  the  subordination  of  the  numeral  in  the  similar 
lines  VII  260,  338,  386,  448,  550.  It  is  true  that  in  VII  275 
the  necessarily  dissyllabic  form  of  second  brings  its  first  syllable 
into  the  arsis ;  but  in  VII  592  the  numeral  must  undoubtedly 
be  scanned  seventh  and  sink  to  the  thesis  of  the  last  foot. 

(2)  With  regard  to  the  number  of  accents  in  the  line,  Guest 
expresses  himself  explicitly,  saying  (Skeat's  ed.  p.  87)  "  Milton 
wrote  his  poem  in  verses  of  five  "  accents.  This  remark  is  made 
with  reference  to  the  proper  scansion  of  a  series  of  equally  import- 
ant monosyllabic  words.  Concerning  this  matter  he  says  "  When 
two  or  more  words  of  the  same  kind  follow  each  other  consecu- 
tively, they  all  take  an  equal  accent.  If  they  are  monosyllables, 
a  pause  intervenes  between  every  two."  Thus  he  finds  proper 
juxtaposition  of  stress  in  every  line  of  Sydney's  sonnet  in  Arcadia, 

Lib.  Ill,  beginning 

/          /  / 

Virtue,  beautie  and  speech  did  strike,  wound,  charm, 

My  heart,  eyes,  ears,  with  wonder,  love,  delight. 
And  yet  he  considers  the  metrical  merit  of  these  verses  but 
small, — a  rather  severe  judgment,  as  they  follow  his  own  rule. 
The  Elizabethan  interest  in  metrical  questions  and  experiments 
makes  it  possible,  but  not  probable,  I  think,  that  Sydney  did 
intend  this  sonnet  to  be  read  with  six  accents  (some  juxtaposed) 
to  the  line,  and  indeed  the  verses  are  represented  as  having  been 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  7 

"  with  some  art  curiously  written ; "  but  it  is  more  likely  that 
they  are  pentametres  and  that  their  curious  art  is  to  be  found 
in  the  heavy  theses  which  are  so  frequently  used  as  to  give  the 
lines  a  marked  rhythmic  effect. 

Guest  considers  that  the  strictly  proper  scansion  of  equally 
important  monosyllabic  words  as  strike,  wound,  charm  is  fre- 
quently violated,  and  that  one  or  more  of  the  monosyllables 
must  lose  the  accent ;  thus,  for  example,  the  words  marked  A  iQ 

A  /  /          A          /  /  / 

Fear,  sickness,  age,  loss,  labour,  sorrow,  strife. 

Faery  Queen,  1,9,  44. 

This  violation  of  the  rule  "is  probably  ...  on  account  of 
the  great  number  of  English  monosyllables,"  which  practically 
often  necessitates  the  subordination  of  some  of  them  to  the 
thesis-position.  "  False  accentuation  "  of  this  kind,  he  continues, 
"  very  often  leads  to  ambiguity.  In 

High-climbing  rock,  low  sunless  dale, 
Sea,  desert,  what  do  these  avail  f 

Wordsworth,  White  Doe  of  Rylstone.    7,  14. 

there  might  be  a  question,  whether  the  author  did  not  mean  sea- 
desert,  the  waste  of  ocean. 

"  When  the  words  are  collected  into  groups,  this  law  of  [the 
equal  accent  of  a]  sequence  [of  equally  important  monosyllabic 
words]  affects  the  groups  only,  and  not  the  individual.  Thus 
I  think  there  would  be  no  fair  objection  to  the  mode  in  which 

Byron  accents  the  verse, 

/  t         / 

Young,  old, — high,  low, — at  once  the  same  division  share. 

Childe  Harold  1,  71. 
Nor  to  Milton's  famous  line 

Hocks,  caves, — lakes,  fens, — bogs,  dens,1 — and  shades  of  death. 
This   last  verse   has  been  variously  accented.      Mitford   accents 
the  first  six  words,  thus  making  a  verse  of  eight  accents,  though 
Milton  wrote  his  poem  in  verses  of  five" 

The  important  point  in  all  this  is  that  Guest  allows  only  five 
accents  in  the  line,  and  in  order  to  keep  down  to  this  number 

1  Guest  makes  this  note :  Den  means  a  low  wood  bottom,  such  as  often  marks 
a  stream  .  .  .;  hence  it  is  coupled  with  bog.m 


8  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

insists  that  prominent  words  must  at  times  suffer  an  accentual 
subordination,  which  with  regard  to  sense  he  considers  to  be  more 
or  less  faulty  according  to  the  grouping  of  the  words. 

Concerning  the  method  of  obtaining  five  arses  when  the  prose- 
accent  would  furnish  less  than  five,  he  says  "  There  is  no  word, 
however  unimportant,  which  may  not  be  accented  when  it  lies 
adjacent  only  to  unaccented  syllables."  Thus 

A  murd'rer,  a  revolter,  and  a  villian. 

Samson  Agonistes,  1180. 
And  in  this  line  might  have  been  placed  in  the  same  category. 

We  thus  see  that  Dr.  Guest  demands  five  and  only  five  metrical 
accents  or  arses  in  the  pentameter. 

(3)  It  is  in  the  matter  of  the  disposition  of  accents  that  Dr. 
Guest  goes  most  astray,  though  it  may  be  said  to  his  credit  that 
it  is  usually  in  the  case  of  really  "  hard "  lines.  His  chief  sin 

is  that  he  allows  double  or  successive  trochaic  substitution  ;  thus 

/    x      /    x 
With  im\petuous  \  recoil  and  jarring  sound.   II  880 

/      x     /x 
Shoots  in\vm\ble  virtue  e'en  to  the  deep.    Ill  586. 

Also  in  V  413,  750,  874,  VI  33,  333,  VII  527,  533,  VIII  299, 
XI  79,  377;  and  in  P.  R.  I  175,  II  180,  243,  IV  289,  597. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  substitution  of  a  single 
trochaic  foot  is  fully  recognized  by  Guest. 

Anapaestic  postponement  of  the  accent — just  the  inverse  of 
trochaic  substitution — Guest  does  not  find  in  Milton,  fortunately 
letting  the  laws  of  the  metre  override  the  natural  prose-accent 
rather  than  making  such  a  faulty  inversion.  Lines  where  this 
kind  of  conflict  between  the  verse-requirements  and  the  prose- 
accent  occurs  he  considers  faulty.  So  the  prime  for  the  prime  in 
She  was  not  the  prime  cause,  but  I  myself. 

Samson  Agonistes,  234. 
And  many  others.1 

In  V  158, 

/ 
Thy  goodness  beyond  thought  and  pow'r  divine. 

1  Of  this  fault,  he  says,  even  Pope  was  guilty : 

In  words  as  fashions  the  same  rule  will  hold. 

Essays  on  Criticism,  333. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  9 

Dr.  Guest  seems  to  think  that  the  accent  beyond  may  have  been 

II  II 

used  even  in  prose,  as  also  besides,  because,  before,  against,  etc., 

found   in  other  lines.     It  is  to  be   noted,  however,  that  such  a 
prose-accent  is  now  impossible,  and  yet  Tennyson  writes 

A  life  of  nothing,  nothing  worth 

I 
From  that  first  nothing  before  birth 

To  that  last  nothing  under  earth. 

It  is  strange  therefore  that  in  Byron's  Manfred,  2,  5,  Guest 
scans  with  two  consecutive  anapaestic  postponements  of  the  accent, 
thus  making  the  impossible  reading 

X       X          /          X  /          / 

Look  on  |  me,  the  \  grave  hath  \  not  changed  \  thee  more. 

The  proper  scansion  of  this  halting  line  is,  of  course, 

//  // 

Look  on  \  me,  the  \  grave  hath  \  not  changed  thee  more. 

Guest's  book  is  very  valuable  as  a  storehouse  of  examples  of 
metrical  phenomena,  but  the  metrical  theory  which  the  book 
expounds  has  been  rightly  rejected.  It  is  interesting,  in  this 
general  dearth  of  insight  into  matters  of  prosody,  to  find  half 
a  paragraph  containing  a  really  penetrating  remark  upon  the 
r6les  played  in  rhythm  by  pitch  and  expiratory  accent;  but 
of  the  important  fact  here  observed  he  makes  no  further  use  in 
his  book.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  which  has  a  most  significant 
bearing  upon  the  fundamental  problems  of  English  metre. 

After  noticing  on  p.  75  that  "  though  an  increase  of  loudness 
be  the  only  thing  essential  to  our  English  accent,  yet  it  is  in 
almost  every  instance  accompanied  by  an  increased  sharpness 
of  tone/'  he  points  out  (p.  80)  that  when  an  "  emphatic  syllable 
adjoins  upon  one,  which  ought,  according  to  the  usual  laws  of 
construction,  to  be  more  strongly  accented,1'  ...  we  may  "dis- 
tinguish the  emphatic  syllable  by  mere  sharpness  of  tone,  and 
leave  the  stress  of  the  voice,  or  in  other  words  the  essential 
part  of  the  accent,  on  the  ordinary  syllable.  Thus  in  Spenser's 
line 

Flesh  can  impair,  quoth  she,  but  reason  can  repair. 

F.  Q.1,  7,  41. 

both  the  rhythm,  and  the  common  laws  of  accentuation  will  have 
the   last  syllable  of  repair  accented ;    but   purposes  of  contrast 


10  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  ike  Paradise  Lost. 

require  that  the  first  syllable  should  be  emphatic.  The  stress 
therefore  falls  on  the  last  syllable  and  the  sharp  tone  on  the 
first."  So  he  marks  with  the  pitch-accent  the  emphasis  on  us  in 
Samson  Agonistes,  309, 

Who  made  our  laws  to  bind  us,  not  himself. 

It  is  true  that  pitch-accent  as  here  used  by  Guest  to  mark  a 
rhetorically  emphatic  syllable  falling  in  the  thesis,  does  not 
immediately  offer  a  means  of  reconciliation  in  the  conflict 
between  a  fully  accented  syllable  falling  in  the  thesis,  and  a 
weaker  syllable  appearing  in  the  arsis, — a  phenomenon  illustrated 
by  the  last  fout  of  the  line 

Which  of  us  who  beholds  the  bright  \  surface  \ . 
We  shall  see  later,  however,  in  the  first  pages  of  Part  II,  that 
by  a  slight  extension  in  the  use  of  pitch-accent  we  may  find 
a  means  of  marking  as  arses  syllables  which  do  not  receive 
the  chief  prose-stress.  This  important  metrical  principle  Dr. 
Guest  would  seem  to  have  nearly  discovered. 

Edgar  Allan  Poe's  essay  The  Rationale  of  Verse  has  some 
good  points  in  regard  to  English  metre.  His  treatment  of 
classical  metres,  however,  is  altogether  futile.  How  could  he 
have  enjoyed  Horace,  when  scanned  as  he  suggests ;  turning 
this  line,  for  example, 

—         UV^L_I       —   \J  <J        —    V    X 

Mmcen\as,  ata]vis  \  edite  \  regibus. 
into  an  accentual  dactylic  line 

—  uu    — uu    — uu    — uu    ! 

Moreover,  he  entirely  misses  the  meaning  of  synclisis  and  syni- 
zesis,  whereby  two  vowels  in  contact  may  blend  into  a  (monosyl- 
labic) diphthong  without  loss  of  their  phonetic  integrity. 

With  reference  to  successive  trochaic  substitutions  he  says, 
"  Where  vehemence  is  to  be  strongly  expressed,  I  am  not  sure  that 
we  should  be  wrong  in  venturing  on  two  consecutive  equivalent 
feet,  although  I  cannot  say  that  I  have  ever  known  the  adventure 
made  except  in  the  following  passage,  which  occurs  in  'Al  Aaraaf/ 
a  boyish  poem  written  by  myself  when  a  boy.  I  am  referring  to 
the  sudden  and  rapid  advent  of  a  star,"  which  is  described  in  the 
midst  of  a  series  of  iambic  pentameters,  as  coming 

—         v  —     O 

Headlong  \  hither\ward  o'er  the  starry  sea. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  11 

Poe  deserves  praise  for  laying  emphasis  upon  one  important 
metrical  fact  throughout  his  essay.  I  refer  to  the  temporal  equiv- 
alence of  feet.  Thus  he  says,  "No  feet  ....  differing  [in  time] 
can  ever  be  legitimately  used  in  the  same  line.  .  .  .  The  point 
of  time  is  that  point  which,  being  the  rudimental  one,  must  never 
be  tampered  with."  Further  on  he  speaks  of  the  necessity  of  the 
"whole  time  of  a  foot  being  unchanged"  as  having  been  already 
established  in  the  essay.  Again  he  objects  to  the  current  books 
on  classical  prosody  which  declare  "that  the  first  foot  of  this 
species  of  verse  [the  verse  of  Horace's  first  ode]  may  be  a  trochee, 
and  seem  to  i>e  gloriously  unconscious  that  to  put  a  trochee  in 
opposition  with  a  longer  foot,  is  to  violate  the  inviolable  principle 
of  all  music,1  time." 

Mr.  Ellis's  views,  as  stated  in  his  Essentials  of  Phonetics,  Lon- 
don, 1848,  his  Early  English  Pronunciation,  1869,  and  repeated 
by  quotation  in  a  paper  read  before  the  English  Philological  Society 
in  June,  1876,  and  published  in  its  Transactions,  are  not  quite 
so  free  as  Mr.  Masson's,  to  be  presently  considered,  and  yet  admit 
licenses  we  should  forbid.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  Ellis  is  speaking 
about  blank  verse  in  general,  not,  like  Masson,  only  of  Milton's. 

With  regard  to  (1)  the  number  of  syllables  in  the  line,  he  admits 
trisyllabic  feet.  He  also  admits  (2)  doubly  stressed  or  unstressed 
feet,  thus  both  raising  and  lowering  the  number  of  stresses  from 
the  number  in  the  type-line. 

(3)  The  occurrence  of  trochaic  substituti6n  is  limited  by  these 
two  sentences  of  1848  and  1869,  which,  as  Mr.  Mayor  points  out, 
do  not  wholly  agree.  1848  :  "It  is  necessary  that  there  should  be 
an  accent  on  the  last  syllable,  either  of  the  third  and  fifth  meas- 
ures, or  of  the  second  and  fourth.  If  either  of  these  requisites 
is  complied  with,  other  accents  may  be  distributed  almost  at 
pleasure." 

"1869  :  There  must  be  a  principal  stress  on  the  last  syllable  of 
the  second  and  fourth  measures ;  or  of  the  first  and  fourth ;  or  of 
the  third  and  some  other.  If  any  one  of  these  three  conditions  is 
satisfied,  the  verse  so  far  as  stress  is  concerned  is  complete." 

That  is,  Ellis  considers  iambs  are  necessary  only  as  follows:  — 

1  The  italics  are  mine. 


12 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 
1st. 


2nd.          3rd. 
u   — 


4th.          5th. 
u   — 


A  glance  at  this  table  shows  that  Ellis  allows  final  and  suc- 
cessive trochaic  substitution,  and  (since  he  makes  no  mention  of  an 
antecedent  verse-pause  as  a  necessary  condition)  non-caesural  inver- 
sion. About  all  he  forbids,  indeed,  seems  to  be,  first,  a  succession 
of  more  than  two  trochees,  and,  second,  double  trochaic  substitu- 
tion twice  in  one  line. 

Mr.  Masson  in  the  introduction  to  his  Poetical  Works  of  John 
Milton,  London,  1874,  takes  a  very  free  view  of  (1),  (2),  and  (3). 
His  ideas  may  be  indicated  by  a  few  quotations. 

After  scanning  the  first  twenty-six  lines  of  Paradise  Lost,  he 
says :  "  In  thirteen  lines  the  iambus  is  absent  from  the  second 
place  and  we  have  a  pyrrhic,  a  trochee,  a  spondee,  or  even  an 
anapest,  or  an  amphibracchius  instead.7' 

"A  study  of  the  facts  puts  all  formally  right  by  declaring  that 
English  blank  verse  admits  a  trochee,  a  spondee,  or  a  pyrrhic  for 
the  iamb  in  almost  any  place  of  the  line. 

"  Less  numerous  than  the  lines  that  escape  the  strict  5  X  a 
[==  5  iamb]  formula  by  the  substitution  of  the  trochee,  the  pyr- 
rhic, or  the  spondee,  for  the  iamb,  but  still  very  frequent,  are  the 
lines  which  escape  from  the  formula  by  the  bolder  substitution  of 
one  of  the  trisyllabic  feet.  This  occasions  even  greater  irregularity 
in  appearance ;  for  wherever  an  anapest,  a  dactyl,  or  a  tribrach  or 
other  trisyllabic  foot,  displaces  an  iambus,  the  line,  of  course,  is 
lengthened  to  eleven  syllables.  Nevertheless  the  trisyllabic  varia- 
tion consists  with  the  genius  of  English  blank  verse,  and  imparts 
to  it  an  additional  power  and  freedom.  .  .  .  All  these  lines  might 
be  rectified  into  decasyllabics  by  supposing  elisions,  slurs,  or  con- 
tracted utterances ;  and  there  are  some  who  seem  to  favour  such  a 
practise.  There  could  be  no  more  absurd  error.  .  .  .  Are  there 


JAnd  in  one  other  foot  at  the  same  time. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  13 

any  examples  of  two  trisyllabic  variations  in  one  line  ?  There  are, 
though  exceedingly  rare. 

"  Though  five  beats  or  accents  are  the  normal  measure  of  blank 
verse,  yet  the  number  of  accents,  unless  in  a  peculiar  sense  of 
accent  not  realized  in  actual  pronunciation,1  is  also  variable.  In  a 
good  many  of  the  lines  [in  a  list  he  has  just  given]  only  four  dis- 
tinct accents  can  be  counted.  In  three  lines,  I  can  detect  but 
three ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  in  a  very  few  spondaic  lines  the 
number  seems  to  mount  to  six,  seven,  or  even  eight." 

Thus  we  see  that  Masson  (1)  lets  the  number  of  syllables  exceed 
ten,  (2)  varies  widely  the  number  of  stresses  in  a  line,  and  (3) 
admits  successive,  final,  and  non-csesural  trochaic  (and  its  variant 
dactylic)  substitution. 

In  Abbott  and  Seeley's  English  Lessons  for  English  People, 
London,  1879,  the  authors,  in  a  chapter  on  modern  English  metre 
in  general,  say  with  regard  to  (1),  "As  a  general  rule  it  may  be  stated 
that  the  modern  blank  verse  is,  for  the  most  part,  more  strict  than 
that  of  Milton,  and  Milton  is  more  strict  than  Shakspere,  in  lim- 
iting himself  to  ten  syllables  in  a  line.  Milton  uses  capital,  popu- 
lous, as  trisyllabic  feet."  Frequently  however  an  apparently 
supernumerary  syllable  is  obviated,  for  "  a  vowel  termination 
before  an  initial  vowel  is  often  elided  in  Milton." 

(2)  Defect  of  accent  is  not  allowed,  for  a  syllable  unaccented  in 
prose  may  take,  when  falling  in  arsis-position,  a  verse-stress,  thus — 

Nor  served  \  it  to  \  relax  their  serried  files. 

Similarly,  excess  of  accent  is  not  allowed,  for  a  syllable,  heavily 
stressed  in  prose,  takes,  when  standing  in  theses-position,  no  verse- 
stress,  thus — 

With  head,  hands,  wings,  \  or  feet,  pursues  his  way. 
where  hands,  wings,  though  equally  and  heavily  stressed  in  prose, 
furnishes  but  one  arsis. 

Further,  as  a  consequence  of  the  two  licenses  above,  it  may 
happen  that  a  light  arsis  falls  directly  before  a  heavy  thesis,  as  in 
the  |  love-tale  \ .  "  This  sequence,"  described  in  the  English  Lessons 
as  being  "so  common  in  our  best  poets,"  Mr.  Abbott  had  fre- 

1  This  half-admission  is  to  be  noted. 


14  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

quently  tried  in  his  earlier  book,  A  Shakespearian  Grammar,  2nd 
ed.,  London,  1870,  to  obviate  in  a  very  violent  manner,  by  consid- 
ering the  heavy  thesis  to  have  become  "  lengthened  "  or  else  dis- 
syllabic, and  thus  to  fill  at  once  the  place  of  the  preceding  arsis 
and  of  itself,  causing  the  syllable  which  might  have  stood  as  a 
light  arsis  to  become  a  thesis ;  thus  in  the  Grammar  we  find  not 

Your  breath  first  kindled  the  dead  coal  of  war. 
but 

X         /       X  X        /  (X)    / 

Your  breath  \first  kindled   the  dea — | — d  coal  of  war. 
This  is  what  we  have  already  named  the  anapaestic  postponement 
of  the  arsis, — a  method  of  scansion  which  is  always  erroneous. 

It  is  well  that  Mr.  Abbott  has  seen  fit  to  give  this  principle  up; 
and  yet,  without  it,  and  having  announced  in  his  English  Lessons 
that  metrical  accent,  "  if  it  fall  on  any  syllable  of  a  word,  must  fall 
on  the  principal  word-accent,"  it  is  hard  to  see  how  he  would  scan 
the  marked  off  feet  in  such  a  line  as  X  805, 

His  sentence  be\yond  dust  \  and  nature's  law. 

where  it  seems  necessary  either  to  let  the  verse-accent  fall  on  be-,  or 
to  make  the  extraordinary  kind  of  backward  inversion  (anapsestic 
postponement  of  arsis)  described  above.  Each  of  these  methods 
Abbott  seems  to  forbid.  The  first  is  of  course  to  be  followed 
without  hesitation. 

(3)  As  to  the  restriction  of  trochaic  substitution,  Abbott  and 
Seeley  say  "  It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule  that  in  iambic  metre 
one  trochee  cannot  follow  another.  It  is  usual  to  quote  as  an 
exception 

/ .  /  /  /  / 

Universal  reproach  far  worse  to  bear. 

Such  a  line  would  be  a  monstrosity,  and  it  is  far  more  likely  that 

Milton  pronounced  the  word  Universal,  perhaps  influenced  by  the 
fact  that  the  a  is  long  in  Latin." 

Earlier,  in  the  Grammar,  Abbott  seemed  to  think  two  successive 
trochees  probable,  though  not  quite  certain ;  and  indeed  he  there 
cites 

Universal  I  reproach  far  worse  to  bear. 

Trochaic  substitution  in  the  final  foot  I  do  not  find  mentioned  in 
the  English  Lessons.  It  is  allowed  in  the  Grammar. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  15 

That  at  least  a  slight  verse-pause  is  required  before  trochaic  sub- 
stitution, is  explicitly  stated  in  the  English  Lessons.  It  is  also 
implied  in  such  a  remark  as  "  We  may  lay  it  down  as  a  rule  that 
a  trochee  in  the  middle  of  a  verse  must  not  follow  an  unemphatic 

accent.     Hence  it  is  allowable  to  write 

/         /     x 
Be  in  their  flowing  cups  freshly  remembered. 

because  the  emphatic  word  cups,  long  in  quantity  as  well  as 
emphatic,  necessitates  a  kind  of  pause  after  it  which  makes  a  break 
between  the  two  accents.  But  we  could  not  so  well  write 

Be  in  their  happiness  \freshly  \  remember' d." 
-ness  being  too  light  for  a  following  pause. 

"  The  following  seem  to  be  remarkable  exceptions  : — 

Burnt  after  them  to  the  \  bottom\less  pit. 
and 

Light  from  above,  from  the  {fountain  \  of  light." 
Here  the  rule  that  Abbott  and  Seeley  have  already  laid  down, 
that  the  metrical  accent,  "if  it  fall  on  any  syllable  in  a  word, 
must  fall  on  the  principal  word-accent/7  makes  it  impossible  for 
the  authors  to  let  the  syllables  -torn  and  -tain  figure  as  arses,  as  of 
course  they  must. 

The  fundamental  note  of  Sidney  Lanier's  The  Science  of  English 
Verse  (Charles  Scribner's  Sons,  New  York,  1880)  is  this  (p.  65)  : 
"  Rhythm  of  any  sort  is  impossible,  except  through  the  coordina- 
tion of  time.  Time  is  the  essential  basis  of  rhythm.  'Accent '  can 
effect  nothing,  except  in  arranging  materials  already  rhythmical 
through  some  temporal  recurrence.  Possessing  a  series  of  sounds 
temporally  equal  or  temporally  proportionate,  we  can  group  them 
into  various  orders  of  larger  and  larger  groups  ...  by  means  of 
accent ;  but  the  primordial  temporalness  is  always  necessary." 
The  value  of  Lanier's  book  consists  in  the  constantly  recurring 
emphasis  and  luminous  illustration  of  this  essential  truth.  Lanier 
was  an  accomplished  musician  as  well  as  a  poet,  and  his  insight 
into  metrical  matters  was  much  increased  and  clarified  by  his 
musical  knowledge.  But  there  are  at  least  some  principles  of 
musical  rhythm  which  may  not  be  applied  to  the  rhythm  of  verse, 
and  by  making  a  faulty  application  of  this  sort  Lanier  fell  into 
one  of  the  few  errors  of  his  book.  He  says  that  a  syllable 


16  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

upon  which  a  verse-accent  would  regularly  fall  according  to  the 
rhythmic  type,  may  either  (a)  be  moved  from  under  the  accent, 
or  (6)  omitted  altogether,  letting  its  place  in  either  instance  be 
supplied  by  a  temporal  rest.  This  is  indeed  true  of  music.  It 
is  true  also  of  the  end  of  a  line  in  verse.  Thus,  letting  ^  repre- 
sent the  temporal  rest,  we  have,  for  example,  a  common  hymn- 
stanza  : 

/  /  / 

It  is  not  death  to  die  2. 
I  I         I 

To  leave  this  weary  road  -£ 

I  ll( 

And  'midst  the  brotherhood  on  high 

I         I  I 

To  be  at  home  with  God  -L. 

The  use  of  such  a  rest  in  the  midst  of  a  line,  however,  is  not  to 
be  allowed.  Thus  Lanier's  method  of  scanning 

/  X  X      /  X 

(a)  Who  would  believe  \mef  -£\0  perilous  mouths. 

x  x      / 

and  (b)  Than  the  soft  myr\tle  ;  -L  \  but  man  proud  man. 

is  certainly  erroneous.  In  the  case  of  (a),  where  a  syllable  has 
only  been  removed  from  under  accent,  correction  is  to  be  made 
by  replacing  this  syllable  in  the  arsis.  Thus  either 

X         /         /  X      X          / 

Who  would  believe  \mef  0\ perilous  mouths. 

with  a  pause  after  0  and  following  trochaic  substitution ;  or, 
preferably,  omitting  the  pause  and  using  the  secondary  stress  of 

perilous  as  arsis, 

/        //  / 

Who  would  believe  \rnef  0  \peril\ous  mouths. 

It  may  here  be  remarked  that  Lanier  does  not  recognize  the 
use  of  the  secondary  stress  as  a  structural  element  in  verse.  "  Of 
course,"  he  says,  "  no  one  would  read 

The  mistress  which  I  serve  quickens  what's  dead." 
If  indeed  the  use  of  the  secondary  stress  as  arsis  is  not  absolutely 
necessary  in  this  line  on  account  of  a  possible  pause  after  serve 

which  would  permit  quickens,  it  is  in  some  instances  unavoidable, 
as  in 

Which  of  us  who  beholds  the  bright  surface. 
In  the  case  of  (6),  where  a  syllable  has  been  altogether  omitted, 
the  only  method  of  scansion  is  with  a  monosyllabic  initial  foot : 

-         X      —         X     _//  X—  X          — 

Than  \  the  soft  \  myrtle  ;  \  but  man,  \  proud  man 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost  17 

Schipper,  in  his  Englische  Metrik  (Bonn,  1881-1888),  holds 
(1)  that  there  may  occasionally  be  extra-metric  syllables.  Thus, 
for  example,  he  finds  trisyllabic  feet  in 

To  adore  the  conqueror,  who  now  beholds.    I  323. 

Whom  reason  hath  equalPd,  force  hath  made  supreme.    I  248. 

(2)  Two  light  and   two    heavy  prose-syllables  when  forming 
a  verse-foot,  he   correctly  treats   as   having   one   and   only  one 
verse-stress. 

(3)  When  prose-stress  demands  that  verse-stress  (belonging  as 
it  does  on  the  even  syllables)  should,  to  coincide  with  it  (the  prose- 
stress),  fall  on  the  preceding  odd  syllable,  or  when  in  other  words 
there  is  a  tendency  to  trochaic  substitution,  there  are  two  methods 
of  treatment  according  to  Schipper : 

A.  We  may  have  trochaic  substitution.     This,  however,  he  lets 

occur  at  improper  places ;  as  when  no  caesura  precedes, 

/         /       x 
Of  man's  \first  dis\obedience  and  the  fruit.    I  1. 

or  in  two  successive  feet, 

/       X       /    X 

With  them  from  bliss  \  to  the  \  bottom\less  deep.     P.  JR.  I  361. 
He  forbids,  however,  trochaic  substitution  in  the  final  foot. 

B.  We  may  at  other  times  have  what  Schipper  considers  to  be 
in  all  cases  a  more  or  less  faulty  usage,  hovering  stress.     The 
phenomenon  of  hovering  stress  is  this.     The  arsis  does  not,  as 
in  A,  pass  forward  so  as  to  coincide  with  the  word-stress,  but 
instead  the  stress  hovers  (which  I  take  to  be  equivalent  to  rests 
practically  level)  on  the  two  syllables,  with,   however,  a  slight 
distinguishing  accent  on  the  second  syllable  or  arsis.     Hovering 
stress   is  therefore  best  available  when  the  two  syllables  have 
in  prose  almost  level  stress ;  thus  moonlight,  with   slightly  out- 
weighing initial  stress  in  prose,  easily  goes  into  the  iambic  line 

as  moon-light.     Schipper,  however,  uses  hovering  stress  even  when 
there  is  more  disparity  between  the  two  syllables,  thus, 

Burnt  after  them  to  the  bottomless  pit.1 

1  Strangely  enough,  Schipper  suggests  a  different  scansion  for  P.  R.  I  361, 

With  them  from  bliss  \  to  the  \  bottomless  deep. 
using  double  trochaic  substitution. 


18  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

There  are  thus,  according  to  Schipper,  two  methods  of  reconcil- 
ing conflict  between  the  accentual  systems  of  prose  and  verse  when 
the  syllables  showing  the  conflict  fall  in  the  same  foot.  When, 
however,  the  conflict  is  between  a  (light)  arsis  and  a  following 
(heavy)  thesis — the  thesis  of  the  next  foot, — we  can  have  recourse 
only  to  hovering  stress,  as  an  inversion  (here  anapaestic  postpone- 
ment of  the  arsis — just  the  reverse  of  trochaic  substitution)  would  be 

in  this  case  impossible.     An  example  of  this  is  beyond  in  X  805, 

x       /  x         / 
His  sentence  be\yond  dust  \  and  Nature's  law. 

In  criticism  of  the  doctrine  of  hovering  stress  as  expounded 
by  Schipper,  we  may  say  that  it  satisfactorily  explains  the  double 

verse-forms  man-kind  and  man-kind,  etc.;  and  even  compounds 

of  the  nature  of  unknown  and  unknown.  For  here  the  practically 
level  prose-stress  takes  with  the  greatest  ease,  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  environment,  the  requisite  ascending  or  descending  rhythm. 

Hovering  stress  will  not,  however,  explain  how  bottom,  which, 
though  indeed  possessing  a  minor  stress  on  -torn,  is  by  no  means 
levelly  stressed,  can  be  used  as  an  iamb ;  nor  can  it  explain  how 

beyond  may  show  descending  rhythm.  For  preponderating  stress 
on  -torn  or  be-,  even  though  only  slightly  outweighing  the  other 
stress,  would  give  to  the  word  an  improper  and  abnormal  form. 
But  this  is  just  what  hovering  stress  demands.  Indeed  Schipper 

agrees  with  Masson  that 

/ 
Burnt  after  them  to  the  bottomless  pit. 

"  is  too  horrible ;  and,  such  barbarous  readers  are  imaginary." 
And  yet  Schipper's  scansion  really  results  in  the  same  thing,  for 
in  order  to  make  an  iamb  out  of  bottom  upon  the  principle  of 
hovering  stress,  the  last  syllable  must  preponderate  however  little 
over  the  first. 

We  shall  see  hereafter  that  the  only  proper  treatment  of  such  a 
word  is  to  let  the  (expiratory)  prose-accent  remain  on  its  proper 
syllable,  and  to  indicate  the  other  syllable  as  arsis  by  a  specific 
verse-accent  the  characteristic  of  which  is  pitch. 

Let  Mr.  Mayor,  the  author  of  Chapter  on  English  Metre,  London, 
1886,  express  himself  under  the  three  heads.  He  considers  blank 
verse  in  general,  not  Milton's  especially. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  19 

(1)  Supernumerary  syllables  he  admits,  but  he  limits  them  with 
these  words :  "As  to  trisyllabic  substitution,  it  is  plain  that  if  we 
set  no  limits  to  this,  the  character  of  the  metre  is  changed.     .  .  . 
I  think  the  limit  of  trisyllabic  substitution  is  three  out  of  five 
[feet]." 

"  We  must  distinguish,  however,  between  the  different  kinds  of 
trisyllabic  feet.  The  anapest,  which  may  be  considered  an  exten- 
sion of  the  iamb,  is  the  most  common  ;  the  dactyl,  which  is 
similarly  an  extension  of  the  trochee,  is  only  allowable,  I  think, 
in  the  first  and  either  the  third  or  fourth  foot ;  e.  g.,  we  may  say, 

Terrible  \  their  approach  \  terrible  \  the  clash  of  war, 
or 

Terrible  \  the  clash  \  of  war  \  terrible  \  the  din. 

Whether  amphibrachis,  i.  e.  iamb  followed  by  an  unaccented 
syllable,  can  be  allowed  in  any  place,  except,  of  course,  cases  of 
feminine  rhythm,  is  perhaps  doubtful.  I  cannot  remember  any 
parallel  to  a  heroic  line  such  as  the  following,  but  I  see  no  objec- 
tion to  it : — 

Rebounding  \from  the  rock  \  the  an\gry  breakers  roared." 
in  which  the  first  foot  is  an  amphibrach. 

"  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  must  recognize  the  substitution  of 

tribrachs  for  iambs  in  English  blank  verse,"  as  in 

/  x  x  / 
Melody  on  branch  and  melody  in  midair. 

Tennyson,  Gareth. 

(2)  "  With  regard  to  ...  accentual  irregularities,  excess  of  accent, 
i.  e.  spondee,  is  allowed  in  any  position,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  .  .  .  there  might  be  four  spondees  in  the  line,  supposing  that 
the  fourth  or  fifth  foot  remains  iambic." 

"  Defect  of  accent,  the  pyrrhic,  may  also  be  found  in  any  posi- 
tion, but  it  is  rare  for  two  pyrrhics  to  come  together,  and  perhaps 
impossible  without  a  secondary  accent  falling  on  one  of  the 
syllables."  He  thus  allows,  erroneously,  we  believe,  variation  in 
the  typical  number  of  accents. 

(3)  "  I  should  be  inclined  to  say  that  the  limit  of  trochaic 
substitution  was  three  out  of  five,  provided  that  the  final  syllables 
remained  iambic,  otherwise  two  out  of  five<"     Thus  we  can  get 
not  only  two  but  three  successive  trochees ;  as  well  as  final  and 
non-csesural  trochees. 


20  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Mr.  Mayor  seems  to  favour  anapaestic  postponement  of  the  arsis. 
For  on  p.  637  of  The  Transactions  of  the  Philological  Society 
(London),  1873-1874,  in  commenting  on  Abbott  and  Seeley'a 
English  Lessons  for  English  People,  he  finds  fault  with  the  scansion,, 

Oh,  weep  for  Adona|is.     The  \  quick  dreams. 

Then  tore  with  bloody  ta|lon  the  \  rent  plain. 

and  says  "It  is  plain  that  in  these  lines  the  is  about  the  least 
important  word,  and  is  intentionally  prefixed  to  the  important 
words  quick  and  rent  to  give  them  additional  emphasis.  In 
technical  language,  the  is  here  a  proclitic;  so  far  from  laying 
any  stress  upon  it,  a  good  reader  would  pass  it  over  more  lightly 
than  any  other  word  in  the  lines.  I  am  unable,  therefore, 
to  see  the  propriety  of  speaking  of  it  as  bearing  the  metrical 
accent." 

This  scansional  system  Professor  Mayor  has  applied  to  Shelley's- 
verse  in  a  paper  entitled  Shelley's  Metre,  London,  1888,  Printed 
for  private  subscription. 

(1)  Professor  Mayor  would  find  a  trisyllabic  foot  (anapaest)  in 

this  line  from  The  Cenci: 

x  x     / 

To  rend  and  ru-m.    What  say  ye  now,  my  Lords  ? 

where  ruin  is  metrically  monosyllabic. 

(2)  Another  mode  of  varying  the  metre,  thinks  Professor  Mayor,, 
is  the  adding  to  or  the  taking  from  the  number  of  accents  in  the  foot. 
This,  he  says,  is  "  so  common  that  the  exception  is  to  find  a  line 
which  does  not  contain  feet  with  either  no  accent  or  more  than 

one  accent.     Thus 

/        /        x         x     /         / 
The  dry  |  fixed  eye-|ball,  the  |  pale  quiv|ering  lip. 

has  two  spondees  and  one  pyrrhic,  altogether  six  instead  of  five 

accents."     The  ictus,  we  think,  must  really  be  placed  as  follows  t 

II  III 

The  dry  |  fixed  eye  -ball,  the  |  pale  quiv|ering  lip. 

(3)  Great  license  is  given  to  trochaic  substitution.     Thus  Pro- 
fessor Mayor  allows  trochees  to  stand  where  not  preceded  by  a 
caesura : 

And  wild  |  roses  \  and  ivy  serpentine, 
in  the  last  foot : 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  21 

/ 
And  heard  the  autumnal  winds  like  light  |  footfalls  . 

and  successively  : 

If  thou  hast  done  |  murders  \ ,  made  thy  \  life's  path. 

The  metrical  accents  on  the  words  above  italicized  must,  we  hold, 

III  I 

fall  thus  :  roses,  footfalls,  murders,  and  perhaps  made  thy. 

The  licenses  of  trochaic  substitution  and  trisyllabic  feet  are 
frequently  combined  by  Professor  Mayor  and  he  gives  us  such 

a  scansion  as : 

/    x  x 
That  ever  came  |  sorrowing  \  upon  the  earth. 

This  we  must  correct  to  : 

That  ever  came  |  sorrowing  \  upon  the  earth. 

In  his  article  "  The  Translation  of  Beowulf  and  the  Relations 
of  Ancient  and  Modern  English  Verse "  in  The  American  Journal 
of  Philology,  Vol.  VII,  1886,  pp.  46  ff.,  Professor  Gummere  shows, 
naturally  enough  it  seems  when  we  note  the  general  theory  he  is 
advancing,  a  tendency  to  underestimate  the  importance  of  certain 
of  the  arses  in  the  heroic  line.  He  believes  that  "  we  must  regard 
Chaucer's  great  creation,  heroic  verse,  as  really  founded  on  the 
national  verse  [of  four  stresses],  not  as  an  importation."  That  is, 
"our  heroic  verse  ...  is  simply  the  result  of  forcing  the  iambic 
movement  (influence  of  foreign  models  played  its  part  here)  upon 
some  late  form  of  our  four-stress  verse.  This  process,  in  a  word, 
reduces  the  pause  [at  the  middle  of  the  native  line],  and  cuts  down 
all  triple  measures  (aside  from  cases  of  slurring);  but  it  adds  a 
new  verse-stress,  though  this,  in  a  majority  of  cases,  has  no  syn- 
tactic force.  Such  a  verse  as  Chaucer's  (C.  T.  500) 
That  if  gold  ruste,  what  shal  yren  do  ? 

is  itself  almost  enough  to  support  the  above  statement ;  note  the 
pause,  the  balance,  the  real  movement : 

u  u  —  —  u  |  u  u  —  u  — 
as  compared  with  the  movement  of  the  verse-scheme : 

u^u-^uUu^uX" 

Again,  "The  majority  of  heroic  verses  may  be  said  to  have 
really  but  four  stresses.  Further,  any  reader  of  English  verse 
will  remember  a  certain  tendency,  notably  strong  with  Dryden, 


22  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Pope,  and  Johnson,  to  balance  lines  in  such  a  way  that  the  verse 
falls  in  halves,  with  a  slight  pause  after  the  second  measure,  or  in 
the  middle  of  the  third  (masculine  or  feminine  pause),  with  a  very 
weak  third  or  fourth  stress  which  in  the  case  of  a  feminine  caesura 
gives  the  effect  of  heaped-up  light  syllables.1 

No  secret  island  in  the  boundless  main. 

Refund  the  plunder  of  the  beggar'd  land." 

In  other  words,  Dr.  Gummere,  though  not  quite  consistently 

with  the  earlier-quoted  passage  in  which  the  expression  "  adds  a 

new  verse-stress"  would   make  in  and  of  arses,  seems  here  to 

consider  the  proper  reading  (and  if  the  reading  of  a  line  is  not 

indicative  of  its  scansion,  what  is  ?)  to  be  : 

/        /  II 

No  secret  island  JL  in  the  boundless  main. 

Refund  the  plunder  2.  of  the  beggar' d  land. 

where  the  dash  represents  a  slight  pause  which  compensates  for 
the  absence  of  the  third  arsis. 

The  proper  scansion,  of  course,  raises  in  and  of  into  the  arsis 
position  by  pitch-accent. 

In  his  essay  "An  Answer  to  the  Question  What  is  Poetry?"  in 
Imagination  and  Fancy,  London,  1844,  Leigh  Hunt's  remarks  on 
metre  are  confined  to  purely  aesthetic  judgments,  and  upon  this 
aesthetic  basis  he  does  not  attempt  to  raise  a  system  of  the 
mechanics  of  verse. 

Symonds,  too,  in  his  Blank  Verse  (Scribner's  Sons,  New  York, 
1895),  writes  mainly  from  the  aesthetic  viewpoint.  In  his  tech- 
nical exposition  of  verse  he  allows,  we  believe,  too  great  freedom 
of  scansion.  "  Successive  trochees  in  the  third  and  fourth  places," 
he  says,  "  of  which  there  are  several  specimens  in  Milton, .  .  .  are 
far  from  disagreeable  in  the  English  iambic." 

Again,  while  not  so  expressing  himself  explicitly,  it  is  plain 
from  his  words  that  he  scans  two  well-known  lines  from  Samson 

Agonistes  either  with  two  successive  trochees  initially 

/  / 

For  his  \  people  \  of  old :  what  hinders  now  ? 

1  Cf.,  says  Gummere,  Kieger  on  the  second  auftact :  Im  Beowulf  ist,  wie  iiberall, 
die  anschwellung  des  auftactes  mehr  im  zweiten  als  im  ersten  halbvers  zu  hause. 
All-  und  Ags.~  Verskunst,  p.  59. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  23 

/       / 
and,  Uni\versal\ly  crown'd  with  highest  praises. 

or  with  only  four  feet,  the  first  two  of  which  would  be  trisyllabic  : 
For  his  peo\ple  of  old  \  what  hinders  now  f 

Universally  crown'd  \  with  highest  praises. 

In  the  proper  scansions, 

/  /  /    t         I 

For  his  \  people,  etc.,  and  Uni\versal\ly ,  etc. 

the  propriety  of  I  is  witnessed  by 

III  642,     Of  many  a  coloured  plume  sprink/'d  with  gold. 

V  750,     In  their  triple  degrees,  regions  to  which, 
while  the  propriety  of  -al  is  shown  by 

III  33,    Those  other  two  eqtiaft'd  with  me  in  fate. 

IX  370,     But  if  thou  think  trial  unsought  may  find. 
Again,  avoiding  obvious  synclisis  and  syncopation  he  seems  to 
scan  this  line  from  P.  L.  with  two  trisyllabic  feet : 

XX.  /  X     X   / 

Submiss ;  he  rear'd  me,  and,  Whom  thou  soughtes£  /  am. 
So  the  line  from  P.  E. 

The  one  winding,  the  other  strait,  and  left  between. 
"affords,"  he  says,  "a  good  instance  of  what  is  meant  by  the 
massing  of  sounds  together,  so  as  to  produce  a  whole  harmonious 
to  the  ear,  but  beyond  the  reach  of  satisfactory  analysis  by  feet. 
It  is  not  an  Alexandrine,  though,  if  we  read  it  syllabically,  it  may 
be  made  to  seem  to  have  six  feet.  Two  groups  of  syllables — 

The  one  winding   the  other  strait 

— take  up  the  time  of  six  syllables,  and  the  verse  falls  at  the  end 
into  the  legitimate  iambic  cadence.  At  the  same  time  it  would 
no  doubt  be  possible,  by  the  application  of  a  Procrustean  method 
of  elisions  and  forcible  divisions,  to  reduce  it  to  an  inexact  iambic, 

thus: 

x        /     x  / 

Th'  one  win\ding  th*  ot\her  strait  and  left  betiveen." 

Thus  he  sees  what  we  consider  the  true  method  of  scansion  only 
to  condemn  it. 

A  good  example  of  the  defect  of  Symonds's  treatment  of  metrics, 
a  defect  always  present  in  a  system  which  is  founded  upon  a  sub- 
jective judgment  of  the  scansion  required  by  the  meaning  rather 


24  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

than  upon  regard  to  the  mechanical  structure,  may  be  seen  in  the 
following  sentence,  which,  though  having  nominally  to  do  with 
dramatic  blank  verse,  really  expresses  his  teaching  upon  the  scan- 
sion of  blank  verse  in  general :  "  The  one  sound  rule  to  be  given 
to  the  readers  of  dramatic  blank  verse,  written  by  a  master  of  the 
art,  is  this :  Attend  strictly  to  the  sense  and  to  the  pauses ;  the 
lines  will  then  be  perfectly  melodious ;  but  if  you  attempt  to  scan 
the  lines  on  any  preconceived  metrical  system,  you  will  violate  the 
sense  and  vitiate  the  music." 

Recent  essays  on  metre  have  been  appearing  in  the  Arden 
Shakespeare,  an  essay  being  appended  to  each  separately  edited 
play.  I  have  examined  those  in  the  volumes  containing  Richard 
II,  Richard  III,  Hamlet,  and  Gymbeline.  Dramatic  or  free  blank 
verse  differs  from  Miltonic  or  strict  blank  verse  chiefly  in 
this, — ;while  the  latter  allows  an  eleventh  syllable  only  at  the 
end  of  a  line  (making  thus  a  feminine  ending),  the  former  may 
have  a  trisyllabic  foot  at  any  place  in  the  line.  Criticism  of 
the  one  kind  from  the  syllabic  standpoint  is  not,  therefore,  wholly 
applicable  to  the  other. 

(1)  But  though  trisyllabic  feet  are  allowable  in  free  blank  verse, 
nevertheless  an  hypermetric  syllable  is  frequently  elided  or  other- 
wise obviated  even  in  the  dramatic  line.     Thus  Dr.  Herford,  the 
editor  of  Richard  II  in  the  Arden  edition,  scans 
Sent  back  like  Hallowmas  or  shortest  of  day. 
Stoop  with  oppression  of  their  prod(i)gal  weight. 
Let  it  be  tenable  in  your  silence  still.     (Hamlet.) 

Reproach  and  dissolution  hang'th  over  him. 

What  says  your  majesty  ?    Sorrow  and  grief  of  heart. 

with  an  extrametric  syllable  in  majesty  before  the  caesura. 
I  have  been  studying  how  I  may  compare. 

"Sometimes  the  number  of  syllables  is  less  than  the  normal 
ten,  the  stresses  remaining  five.  This  happens  especially  after  a 
marked  pause.  .  .  .  But  it  hardly  became  a  regular  type  (i.  e. 
when  it  occurs  it  is  felt  as  unrhythmical).  E.  g. 

Your  grace  mistakes  ;  only  to  be  brief.     Ill  3,  9." 


». 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  25 

(2)  The  necessity  of  five  stresses  to  the  line  Dr.  Herford  puts 
well.     He  says  "The  essential  structure  of  Shakespearian  blank 
verse  ...  is  a  series  of  ten  syllables  bearing  five  stresses.     The 
words  stress  and  non-stress  are  here  used  for  the  metrical  ictus* 
or  beat,  and  the  pause  between.     It  is  essential  to  distinguish  the 
series  of  stresses  and  non-stresses  which  form  the  rhythm,  from  the 
word-  and  sentence-  accents  which  are  accommodated  to  them.  .  .  . 
The  stresses  may  vary  in  degree  ;  syllables  which  bear  a  very  slight 
natural  accent  being  placed  in  a  normally  stressed  place.     Thus, 

To  scarlet  indignation,  and  bedew." 

(3)  In  regard  to  trochaic  substitution  he  says,  "  Within  limits, 
the  alternate  order  of  stress  and  non-stress  may  be  inverted.     As 
this  causes  two  stresses  to  come  together,  and  as  two  stresses  can 
only  be  pronounced  in  succession  when  a  slight  pause  intervenes, 
this  inversion  commonly  coincides  with  a  pause  in  the  sense,  and 
is  thus  found  most  often  at  the  beginning  of  a  line,  [or]  in  the  3rd 
or  4th  foot,  sense-pauses  commonly  occurring  in  these  places.  .  .  . 
In  the  2nd  foot  it  is  much  less  usual.     Konig  has  reckoned  that 
it  occurs  34  times  in  Shakespeare  in  the  2nd  place,  against  c.  500 
in  the  3rd,  and  c.  3000  in  the  1st.  ...     In  the  fifth  the  inversion 
has  hardly  become  typical  (i.  e.  when  it  occurs  it  is  felt  as  unrhyth- 
mical). .  .  .     Two  inversions  may  occur  in  the  same  line,  .  .  .  but 
we  rarely  find  two  inversions  in  succession  and  never  three." 

Some  of  the  other  Arden  essays  are  less  satisfactory  than  Dr. 
Herford's.  Thus  (1)  Dr.  Chambers,  editor  of  Hamlet,  prefers  tri- 
syllabic feet  to  the  obviously  proper  scansions 

1  am  more  an  antique  Roman  than  a  Dane. 

Let  it  be  tenable  in  your  silence  still. 
The  light  and  careless  livery  that  it  wears. 

So  Dr.  Wyatt,  editor  of  Cymbeline,  prefers  a  trisyllabic  foot  to 
the  scansion 

How  bravely  thou  becom\(e)st  thy  bed,  \fresh  lily. 

Dr.  Wyatt  says,  in  regard  to  the  (2)  number  of  stresses  in  a 
line,  that  we  may  have  feet  of  the  form  a  a  and  xx,  when  a  indi- 

1  The  phonetic  or  acoustic  nature  of  the  metrical  ictus,  however,  Dr.  Herford 
does  not  explain. 


26  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

cates  a  stressed,  x  an  unstressed,  syllable.  He  gives  us,  however, 
no  idea  as  to  how  one  of  these  syllables  is  to  be  distinguished 
above  the  other  as  arsis.  Dr.  MacDonald,  editor  of  Richard  III, 
recognizes  the  necessity  of  distinguishing  between  two  equally 
accented  syllables  and  says  in  regard  to  feet  of  the  type  a  a,  though 
the  remark  holds  equally  good  for  the  foot  x  x,  "  The  same  foot 
cannot  .  .  .  contain  two  stresses  of  precisely  equal  strength.  The 
beat  of  the  rhythm  must  be  distinctly  perceptible,  if  the  line  is  to 
be  metrical." 

(3)  Position  of  stresses.  Dr.  Chambers  allows  too  great  license, 
we  believe,  to  trochaic  substitution,  inverting  without  a  sufficient 
preceding  verse-pause  the  second  foot  in 

The  wind  \  sits  in  \  the  shoulder  of  your  sail. 

Hamlet,  I,  3,  56. 

But,  as  Dr.  Herford  remarks,  "  it  is  probable  that  [in  Elizabethan 
English]  both  prepositions  and  the  definite  article  [and  the  indefi- 
nite, too?]  often  bore  a  stronger  accent  than  now." 

Dr.  Chambers  makes  two  consecutive  trochaic  substitutions,  and 

final  at  that,  in  Hamlet,  I,  3,  101, 

/  / 

Affection  !  pooh  !  you  speak  \  like  a  \  green  girl  \ . 

Dr.  MacDonald  gives  a  double  trochaic  substitution  initially  in 

Richard  III,  III,  1,  188, 

/  / 

Shall  we  hear  from  \  you,  Catesby,  ere  we  sleep? 

And  fearing  to  accent  the  preposition  in  IV,  1,  55,  he  scans 

A  cockatrice  hast  thou  \  hatch'd  to  \  the  world. 
making  an  inversion  without  a  sufficient  pause  before  it. 

Dr.  Wyatt  makes  an  undesirable  initial  inversion  and  omits  a 
desirable  synizesis — an  omission  which  necessitates  a  trisyllabic 
foot—in  Cymbeline,  II,  2,  20, 

/          X      X  /        X  X  / 

Sows  to\wards  her,  \  and  would  im[der-peep  her  eyes. 
Which  should,  we  believe,  be  scanned 

Bows  towards  \  her,  and  \  would  im|der-peep  her  eyes. 

He  makes  the  forbidden  final  inversion  in  IV,  3,  9, 

/      / 
The  hope  of  comfort.     But  for  thee  \fellow  \ . 

Perhaps  his  most  unsatisfactory  scansion  is  the  anapsestic  post- 
ponement of  the  arsis  which  he  finds  in  II,  2,  18, 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  27 

x      x      /  / 

How  dear|/3/  they  \  do't !    'Tis\  her  breathing  that. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  scansion  leaves  the  second  foot 
without  an  ictus,  while  throwing  two  verse-accents  into  the  third 
foot.  Properly  scanned,  the  ictus  falls  on  they,  of  course,  and  not 
on  doyt: 

How  dear | ly  they  \  do't  /    ' Tis  \  her  breathing  that. 
Goswin  Konig's  treatment  of  Shakspere's  verse,  Der  Vers  in 
Shaksperes  Dramen,  Quellen  und  Forschungen,  LXI,  is  seriously 
vitiated,  we  believe,  by  such  scansions  as  these : 

Thou  hast  done  a  deed,  whereat  |  valour  \  will  weep. 

Coriolanus,  V,  3,  134. 
/ 
We  shall  be  called  |  purgers  \  not  murderers. 

Julius  Ccesar,  II,  1,  180. 

My  heart  |  prays  for  \  him,  though  my  tongue  do  curse. 

Comedy  of  Errors,  IV,  2,  28. 

In  the  above  lines  and  many  others,  Konig  finds  himself  obliged 
to  make  a  trochaic  substitution  where  there  is  no  preceding  verse- 
pause,  due  to  the  fact  that  he  ignores  the  r6le  played  in  verse  by 
secondary  stress  which  by  a  slight  heightening  of  its  pitch  is  fully 
capable  of  marking  the  rhythmic  wave.  The  italicized  words  in 

the  above  lines  should  bear  the  ictus  thus  valour,  purgers,  prays  for. 
In  a  similar  way  the  double  trochees  are  to  be  altered  in  the 
faulty  scansions : 

Villains,  \  answer  \  you  so  the  lord  protector  ? 

Henry  VI,  PL  I,  I,  3,  8. 

Take  the  \  boy  to  \  you  :  he  so  troubles  me. 

Winter's  Tale,  II,  1,  1. 
and  others ;  which  we  must  read  with  the  ictus  so  placed  : 

Villains,  |  answer  \  you  so  the  lord  protector? 

// 

Take  the  |  boy  to  \  you  :  he  so  troubles  me. 
etc. 

Konig  properly  finds  a  final  trochee  very  disturbing  to  the 
rhythm,  and  such  a  trochee  he  always  attempts  to  obviate.  This 
he  does  at  times  by  considering  that  a  thesis  has  fallen  out  earlier 


28  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

in  the  verse  and  that  the  trochee  is  really  only  a  feminine  ending, 

thus: 

/         (u)     /x 
Appear  in  person  here  |  in  court.  |        Silence  \ . 

Winter's  Tale,  III,  2,  11. 

At  other  times  he  does  away  with  the  trochee  by  having  recourse  to 
hovering  stress  : 

The  gods  rebuke  me,  but  it  is  tidings. 

Antony  and  Cleopatra,^,  1,  27. 
But  why  not  avail  one's  self  of  the  secondary  stresses  inherent  in 

the  second  syllables  of  these  words  and  read 

jl 
Appear  in  person  here  in  court.     Silence. 

The  gods  rebuke  me,  but  it  is  tidings. 

While  Professor  Gummere  seems  to  take  the  method  of  scansion 

/        /  II 

No  secret  island — in  the  boundless  main. 

merely  as  a  manner  of  reading,  the  strict  verse-scheme  really  requiring 
the  time  of  the  dash  or  rest  to  be  filled  by  the  following  unimport- 
ant word,  Mr.  John  Mackhmon  Robertson  in  an  appendix  entitled 
Accent,  Quantity,  and  Feet  in  his  New  Essays  towards  a  Critical 
Method,  John  Lane,  London  and  New  York,  1897,  elevates  this 
method  of  reading  -into  a  metrical  type.  A  large  part  of  this 
appendix — an  appendix  to  the  essay  on  Poe — is  given  up  to  a 
review  of  "the  endless  discussion  "  "as  to  the  scansion  of  classical 
verse," — a  discussion  which  justified  Poe,  "convinced  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  resort  to  academic  tradition,"  in  his  endeavour  "to 
construct  a  metrical  system  on  purely  rational  grounds."  In  the 
not  always  very  lucid  criticism  of  Poe's  system  which  follows, 
Mr.  Robertson  gives  expression  to  some  of  his  own  metrical 
ideas.  "  Poe,"  he  says,  "  gives  us  the  scansion  : 

u       —  u—  u     —     u       —     .        u       ~ 

A  breath  \  can  make  \  them  as  \  a  breath  \  has  made, 

making  five  iambs.  This  is  rhythmically  false ;  no  good  reader 
would  scan  so.  He  would  read,  pedally  speaking : 

u       —         u        —          uuu       —          u        — 
A  breath  can  make  them  \  as  a  breath  has  made, 

and  if  we  are  to  be  logical  in  our  pedal  notation  we  should  make 
the  line  one  of  two  feet  of  five  syllables  each,  as  some  of  the 
ancient  grammarians  would  actually  have  made  it.  What  has 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  29 

really  happened  is  a  pause  after  them,  making  the  real  scansion 

run 

u       —          u         —         u  u    u       —  u       — 

A  breath  can  make  them  as  a  breath  has  made, 

and  so  keep  up  an  iambic  movement,  with  the  slight  variation  of 
one  anapsest.  And  this  is  the  cue  of  the  rhythmical  essence  of  the 
first  line  of  Paradise  Lost 

u          —        u  —          uu—    u  —        u  u      — . 

Of  man's     first  disobedience  and  the  fruit. 

That  is  to  say,  the  movement  is  essentially  iambic,  with  the  easy 
variation  of  two  anapaasts.  ...  It  may  be  argued  that  this  method 
of  analysis  will  serve  to  certificate  the  most  unrhythmical  verse  at 
will  as  rhythmical ;  but  this  is  a  needless  fear.  A  bad  verse  is 
so  because  it  puts  in  a  continuous  run  diversities  of  step  which 
disconcert  us ;  and  no  aid  from  pauses  can  cure  such  jars.  We 
may,  by  pausation,  make  a  risky  line  of  Milton  nearly  quite 

rhythmical,  as  in 

u      —        u  —    uu       —       u       u    —    u       u        — 

Burnt     after     them  to  the  bottomless  pit  ;* 
where  the  undue  stress  on  them  is  now  the  only  flaw. 
But  no  pausation  can  cure  such  lines  as  Mr.  Lowell's 

uu—       uu        —       uu  —  u     u       — 

Forty  fa|thers  of  free|dom  of  whom    twenty  bred  .  .  . 

u      '     u     —          uu        —     uu       y          u—    Uuu—      u 

Each  has  six  |  truest  patriots  four  discovjerers  of  e|ther, 
where  the  anapa3Stic  intention  stumbles  as  if  in  epilepsy."2 

The  objection  which  Mr.  Robertson  himself  suggests  may  be 
made  to  his  system  forms  its  real  condemnation :  "  This  method 
of  analysis  will  serve  to  certificate  the  most  unrhythmical  verse 
at  will  as  rhythmical."  Anything  is  allowed ;  and  we  cannot  but 
feel  that  the  severe  criticism  of  at  least  the  first  of  the  above  lines 
from  Lowell  is  due  rather  to  Mr.  Robertson's  animosity  towards 
that  critic,  plainly  shown  in  his  essay  on  Poe,  than  to  the  fineness 

of  an  ear  which  can  tolerate  the  scansions 

/        /  /  /. 

Of  manjs  first  disobedience  and  the  fruit  .  .  . 

Ill  I 

Burnt  after  them  to  the  bottomless  pit. 

Dr.  Charlton  M.  Lewis  in  his  thesis  entitled  The  Foreign  Sources 
of  Modern  English  Versification  (Yale  Studies  in  English,  No.  1, 
Halle,  1898),  covers  extensive  ground,  tracing  the  rhythmic  princi- 

:I  imagine  (but  who  can  tell  ?)  that  v  between  after  and  them  is  a  misprint. 
8  In  reality,  the  first  of  these  lines  is  tolerable. 


30  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

pie  from  "  the  syllabic  verse  of  some  of  the  oldest  parts  of  the 
A  vesta,"  through  the  quantitative  classical  metres,  the  Mediaeval 
Latin  hymns,  and  early  French  verse,  to  English  soil.  Only  in 
his  last  section,  §  51,  The  syllabic  principle  in  Modern  English 
verse,  does  he  express  opinions  which  directly  concern  our  modern 
pentametre.  Our  five  foot  verse,  he  says,  "  affords  some  recogni- 
tion— though  feeble — to  the  syllabic  principle."  In  a  strict  and 
thorough-going  application  of  this  principle  the  integrity  of  the 
number  of  syllables  would  be  the  one  thing  needful.  It  is  this 
principle  which,  partially  applied,  justifies,  thinks  Dr.  Lewis,  the 

two  consecutive  trochees  which  he  finds  initially  in 

/    <   / 
Palpi\tated,  \  her  hand  shook,  and  we  heard. 

The  Princess,  IV  370. 
and  medially  in  Paradise  Lost,  X  178, 

And  dust  shalt  eat  \  all  the  \  days  of  \  thy  life. 

and  the  three  consecutive  trochees  in 

/          /  t         / 
Harmonizing  \  silence  \  without  a  sound. 

Epipsychidion  (near  the  end). 

and,  Belus  \  or  Se\rapis  \  their  gods,  or  seat. 

Par.  Lost,  I  720. 
The  harshness  of  these  inversions  entirely  destroy  the  iambic 

rhythm.    These  lines  must  of  course  be  scanned 

/          // 
Palpi\tated,  \  her  hand  shook,  etc. 

II  II 

And  dust  shalt  eat  \  all  the  \  days  of  \  thy  life. 

I  (I          II 

Harmo\nizing  \  silence  \  without  a  sound. 

while  in  Par.  Lost,  I  720,  Milton  evidently  said  Serapis,  cf.  Part 
II,  The  accent  of  various  words. 

As  Dr.  Lewis  considers  that  the  presence  of  the  syllabic  princi- 
ple is  shown  clearly  in  the  inversions  he  finds  in  the  above  lines, 
so  he  thinks  it  is  conclusively  proved  in  cases  of  anapcBstic  post- 
ponement of  one  of  the  five  accents.  This  happens  in  "  all  those 
verses  which  are  commonly  described  as  containing  pyrrhics 
followed  by  spondees."  Thus  he  says  "  the  line  from  The  Cenci, 
The  house-dog  moans  and  the  beams  crack;  nought  else. 

Ill  2. 
may  be  divided  into  feet  as  follows : 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  31 

The  house\-dog  moans  \  and  the  \  beams  crack  \  nought  else, 
the  third  foot  being  a  pyrrhic  and  the  fourth  a  spondee.     But  if 
it  be  compared  with  the  following, 

The  house\-dog  moans  \  and  the  beams  \  are  cracked, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  reading  of  the  first  four  feet  is  exactly  the 
same  in  the  two  cases,  so  far  as  time  and  stress  are  concerned.1 
The  latter  line  is  in  the  familiar  Christabel  metre,  and  the  third 
foot  is  an  anapaest : — so  we  see  that  the  pyrrhic  in  the  former  line 
is  not  a  foot  at  all,  except  to  the  eye.  It  seems  doubtful  wisdom, 
therefore,  to  try  to  reduce  such  verses  to  regularity  by  dividing 
them  into  dissyllabic  feet  at  all.  The  better  explanation  is  that 
while  the  postponement  of  the  third  accent  is  a  variation  from  the 
normal,  the  strict  observance  of  the  syllabic  rule  keeps  the  verse 
within  bounds." 

For  a  criticism  of  this  improper  scansion  see  Part  II,  4. 

For  the  proper  method  of  scansion  : 

//  / 

The  house-dog  moans  \  and  the  \  beams  crack  \  ;  nought  else. 

see  Part  II,  3  a  and  b. 

Mr.  H.  C.  Beeching's  criticism  in  The  Athenaeum,  June  1st, 
1901,  of  Professor  Bright's  method  of  scansion  calls  for  a  word 
in  reply.  The  fundamental  objection  which  Mr.  Beeching  finds 

to  Dr.  Bright's  system  is  the  acceptance  of  such  accentuations  as 

II  I         I 

among,  beyond.,  and  many,  parent.     It  is  not  now  necessary  to  dwell 

upon  the  historical  justification  of  such  forms.  In  Part  II  this 
shall  be  done  at  some  length.  For  the  present,  let  us  meet  Mr. 
Beeching  on  his  own  ground,  and,  like  him,  appeal  to  the  judg- 
ment of  the  unphilological  reader.  Would  not  this  personage  be 

inclined  to  accept  the  accentuation  among,  before  in  the  following 
stanzas  of  Wordsworth  and  Tennyson  ? 

I  travelled  among  unknown  men 

In  lauds  beyond  the  sea ; 
Nor,  England  !  did  I  know  till  then 

What  love  I  bore  to  thee. 
— A  life  of  nothing,  nothing  worth 
From  that  first  nothing  before  birth 
To  that  last  nothing  under  earth. 

1  This  statement  is  erroneous. 


32  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Again,  while  the  unphilological  reader  might  be  so  bold  as  to 
accept  a  trochee  for  an  iamb  in  any  one  of  the  first  four  feet  of 
a  blank  verse,  would  even  he  allow  such  a  rhythm-destroying 
inversion  in  the  final  foot?  Would  he  not  rather,  of  the  two 
evilsj  if  Mr.  Beeching  will,  prefer  as  the  lesser  such  an  accentuation 

as  surface,  for  example,  in  the  line 

Which  of  us  who  beholds  the  bright  surface  f 
The  form  of  expression  we  have  just  used  indicates  that  we 

concede  that  to  the  unphilological  reader  there  might  conceivably 

/  / 

be  a  possibility  of  choice  between  surface  and  surface.     Wholly 

impossible,  however,  is  it  that  anyone  should  refuse,  to  instance 
but  one  out  of  numberless  similar  examples,  such  an  accentuation  as 

lovest  in  the  fifth  stanza  of  Shelley's  Invocation,  where  the  rime 

fixes  the  accentual  form  beyond  choice. 
II  II 

I  love  all  that  thou  lovest, 

Spirit  of  Delight ! 

The  fresh  Earth  in  new  leaves  drest 

And  the  starry  night,  etc. 
Thus  even  the  unphilological  reader  will  probably  concede  that 

Milton,  Shelley,  Tennyson,  Wordsworth  furnish  us  with  surface, 

II  I 

lovest,  among,  before. 

The  insufficiency  of  the  views  of  metricians  has  been  perhaps 
fully  enough  illustrated  in  the  above  review,  and  justifies,  we 
believe,  the  following  pages. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  33 


PART  I. 

SYLLABIFICATION. 


Divisions  of  Part  I : — 

Syllabification. 

A,  within  a  word.  B,  between  words, 

(a  and  £)  Synizesis     corresponds  to     Synclisis    ^ 

(t  (  Crasis         >=  Elision. 
{  Ellipsis  j 

(7)  Syncope  (<  |  Apocope  and 

I  Apneresis  (of  vowels). 

Dieresis  is  treated  along  with  Synizesis  and  Syueresis,  Hiatus 
with  Elision. 

Definitions : — 

Synizesis  is  the  falling  together  of  two  contiguous  vocalic 
elements  within  a  word  into  a  diphthong  :  chari-ot  >  chariot. 

This  is  a  very  common  phenomenon. 

Syneresis  is  the  falling  together  of  two  contiguous  vowels 
within  a  word  into  a  monophthong.  This  is  not  a  common 
phenomenon.  Even  where  it  seems  to  occur  it  is  difficult  to 
distinguish  it  with  certainty  from  Synizesis.  Perhaps  we  have 
examples  of  it  in  cre-ature  >  creature,  Cana-an  >  Canaan. 

Opposed  to  Synizesis  and  to  Syneresis  is  Dieresis,  which  is  the 
standing  apart  of  two  contiguous  vowels  within  a  word  so  as  to 
form  two  syllables  :  fe-alty,  ide-a,  Ba-alim,  etc.  This  phenomenon 
is  common. 

Syncope  is  the  cutting  out  of  a  vowel  within  the  body  of  a  word. 
Except  in  certain  verbal  endings  it  is  very  rare. 
3 


34  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Elision  is  the  blending  of  two  contiguous  vocalic  elements  in 
separate  words  into  a  monosyllable.  It  occurs  in  three  forms  : — 

(1)  In  Synclisis  both  the  vocalic  elements  remain  and  form  a 

/    XX        /  /X//XX/          /          X/ 

diphthong  :  many  a  man  >  many  a  man,  able  as  he  >  able  as  he. 

Synclisis  is  very  common. 

(2  and  3)  In  Crasis  and  Ecthlipsis  one  of  the  two  vowels  is 
absorbed  in  the  other.  In  the  written  word  these  phenomena  are 
hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  Synclisis. 

(2)  In  Crasis  the  second  vowel  is  absorbed  in  the  first.     An 

XX         /  X  / 

example  of  this  is  perhaps  No  ingrateful  food  >  No  'ngrateful  food, 
V407. 

(3)  In  Ecthlipsis  the  first  vowel  is  absorbed  in  the  second.     An 

X        X  /  X  / 

example  of  this  is  perhaps  To  whom  thus  the  portress  >  T'  whom  thus 
the  portress,  II  746. 

Apocope  is  the  cutting  off  of  final,  Apheresis  the  cutting  off 
of  initial,  sounds,  vocalic  or  consonantal.  These  phenomena  are 
very  rare,  the  only  examples  being  i(n)  th(e)  (twice),  and  (o]f  thy. 

Opposed  to  Elision  is  Hiatus,  which  is  the  standing  apart  of 

two  contiguous  vowels  in  separate  words  so  as  to  form  two  syl- 

/       x     / 
lables  :  from  all  the  \  ends.     This  phenomenon  is  very  common. 

The  correspondence  between  the  phenomena  of  syllabification 
as  occurring  within  a  word  and  between  words  is  to  be  noted. 
Thus  Apocope  and  Apheresis,  when  vocalic,  correspond  to  Syncope; 
Crasis  and  Ecthlipsis  to  Syneresis ;  and  Synclisis  to  Synizesis. 
So  Hiatus  corresponds  to  Dieresis. 

The  above  terms  are  employed  in  accordance  with  ten  Brink's 
usage  in  his  Chaucerian  grammar. 

A.    SYLLABIFICATION  WITHIN  A  WORD. 
a.   Synizesis  and  dieresis  of  vowels. 

General  rule  :  Two  vowels  in  contact  stand  in  dieresis  if  one  of 
them  is  under  the  primary  accent ;  otherwise  they  suffer  synizesis. 

1.   a  before  or  after  tonic  vowel.     Dieresis  is  regular1 :  La-ertes, 

1In  the  list  which  follows,  the  examples  of  pre-tonic  a  precede  the  semicolon, 
those  of  post-tonic  a  follow.  So  also  for  e,  i,  etc.,  under  3,  5,  etc. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  35 

a-ereal ;  fe-alty,  ide-a,  re-al,  the-atre,  unagree-able,  di-adem,  Mo-ab, 
voy-age,  Ba-alim  (cf.  Balaam  under  2),  etc.      Important  among 

this  class  are  proper  names  in  -ce-a,  -e-a,  -ei-a:  Judce-a,  Uzze-an, 
Tarpei-an. 

Exceptional  synizesis,  or  perhaps  preferably  syneresis  (monoph- 
thongization),  is  constant  in  creature. 

Varying  usage  is  found  in  three  words  :  diamond,  Messiah,  trial. 
In  the  last  two,  ia  stands  regularly  in  dieresis,  but  we  have 

Messiah  in  XII  244,  and  trial  in  I  366.     In  diamond,  on  the 

•< — '  N— * 

•contrary,  synizesis  outweighs  dieresis,  and  we  have  di-amond  in 
III  506,  V  634,  but  diamond  in  IV  554,  V  759,  VI  364. 

2.  a  -f-  atonic   vowel.      Synizesis   (or    syneresis)   is   regular : 
Balaam,  Canaan,  Canaanite,  Isaac,  Israel,1  etc. 

Exceptional  dieresis  in  Senna-ar. 

Varying  usage.  In  Abraham  the  h  is  generally  weakened  and 
the  two  a's  form  one  syllable.  In  XII  152,  however,  they  stand 
in  dieresis.  Michael  and  Raphael  vary  : 

Of  thunder  and  the  sword  of  Micha-el.     II  294. 
Thy  Maker's  image,  answered  Michael  then.     XI  515. 

/  I  *"" 

Micha-el  and  his  angels  prevalent.     VI  411. 

/  / 

Michael,  this  my  behest  have  thou  in  charge.     XI  99. 

v_^ 

3.  e  before  or  after  tonic  vowel.     Dieresis  is  regular :  be-atitude, 

I 
Be-elzebub,  Ele-ale,  Cle-ombrotus,  cre-ate  (and  its  similarly  accented 

derivatives),  pre-amble,  re-alities  ;  se-er,  ve-hement  (though  perhaps 
the  h  is  strongly  enough  sounded  to  keep  the  vowels  apart),  nigh-est, 
qui-et,  embow-el'd,  low-er,  pro-em,  cru-el,  etc. 
Synizesis:  satiety  VIII  216,  pursuers. 

Varying  usage  :  diet  but  di-eted ;  variety  VII  542,  but  vari-ety 
VI  640 ;  soci-ety  in 

Among  unequals  ivhat  soci-ety.    VIII  383, 
but  society  in 

For  solitude  sometimes  is  best  society.     IX  249 ; 
1  Sometimes  Isra-d  in  P.  R. 


36  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

piety  and  pi-ety ;  generally  high-er  and  high-est,  but  also  higher 
and  highest;  generally  hi-erarch,  but 

Of  hierarchies,  of  orders,  and  degrees. 

4.  e  -j-  atonic  vowel.      Synizesis   is   regular :    atheist,  Boreas, 
all-bounteous,  Bethlehem   (with    weakened   h),   delineate,  gorgeous, 
Leucothea,  meteor  (cf.  mete-orous  in  7),  spontaneous,  etc. 

Exceptional  dieresis  :    recre-ant,  Briare-os,  Capre-oe,  Pane-as, 

Pelle-as,  Be-ersaba.     Proper  names,  due  to  their  unfamiliarity, 
would  naturally  tend  to  keep  the  fuller  form.     In  the  last  word 
this  tendency  is  aided  by  the  initial  position  of  the  atonic  syl- 
lable,— a  position  which  has  a  peculiar  strength. 
Variation.    Generally  ethereal,  but  ethere-alV  499. 

5.  i  before  or  after  tonic  vowel.     Dieresis  is  regular  :  Bri-areost 
Gui-ana,  i-ambic,  Sy-ene,  Thy-estean,  tri-umph,  Ethi-opian  (cf.  Ethiop 
in  6),  expi-ations,  medi-ation  (cf.  the  varying  forms  of  mediator 
below),    Ophi-uchus  (cf.    Ophiusa   below),   Sogdi-ana,  Susi-ana; 

Mahana-im,  Mosa-ic,  assay-ing,  survey-ing,  see-ing,  enjoy-ing,  vow- 
ing, blow-ing,  flu-id,  vacu-ity,  ly-ing,  etc. 

/         \        /  \        / 

Synizesis :  Serraliona,  humiliation,  propitiation  (the  recession  of 

the  secondary  accent  in  the  last  two  words  is  to  be  noted ;  cf. 
Part  II,  3  c,  and  The  accent  of  various  words),  Ophiusa,  Damiata. 
oi  is  always  treated  as  a  diphthong :  choice,  foil,  join,  etc. 

Disobeying,  obeying,  displaying,  viewing  occur  only  final,  and  in 
that  position  seven  times  altogether.      The  great  preponderance 
of  the  masculine  ending  may  point  to  the  probability  of -these 
words  suffering  Synizesis,  but  positive  decision  is  impossible. 
Variation.     Generally  say-ing,  but  twice  saying ;  almost  uni- 

v — " 

versally  ru-in  (and  so  its  derivatives),  but  ruin  I  91,  and  ruinous 
II  921 ;  generally  fly-ing,  but  flying  twice;  regularly  dy-ing,  but 
dying  once;  do-ing  and  do-ings  generally,  doing  II  162;  the 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  37 

noun  being  usually  occurs  in  the  final  position  where  its  syllabifi- 
cation is  of  course  ambiguous ;  when  not  final  it  behaves  contrary 
to  the  rule,  being  only  once  be-ing  II  865,  to  four  times  being ; 

deity  and  deities  however  illustrate  the  rule,  being  generally  each 
three  syllables;  we  have  deities,  however,  in  VI  157,  and  deity 

IX  885,  XI  149 ;  the  form  is  ambiguous  in 

The  Deity  and  divine  commands  obey'd.    V  806. 

Medi-ator  X  60,  mediator  XII  240. 

6.  i  +  atonic  vowel.  Synizesis  is  regular.  There  is  great 
wealth  of  illustration :  Abdiel,  audience,  bestial,  chariot,  costliest, 

1  ^          ^  ^  ^ .         ^ 

demoniac,  Ethiop  (cf.  Ethi-opian  under  5),  Geryon,  idiots,  inglorious, 

myriads,  obsequious,  Quintius,  saviour,  speedier,  speediest  (the  con- 
stant way  of  treating  comparatives  and  superlatives  of  adjectives 
in  -y),  superior,  symphonious,  tragedians,  valiant,  zodiac,  etc.  Syni- 
zesis affects  some  words  the  fuller  forms  of  which  would  seem 
to  be  more  euphonious :  costliest,  illustrious,  stateliest,  etc.  The 

syllable  suffering  synizesis  is  often  followed  by  another  syllable : 
Adiabene,  immediately,1  vitiated,  mysteriously,  variously,  gloriously, 

commodiously. 

Exceptional  dieresis :  expi-ate,  sod-ably,  the  proper  names 
Dari-en,  Ithuri-eL  In  insati-able,  vari-able,  soci-able,  dieresis  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  -a-  is  more  suitable  for  an  arsis  than  is  -ble. 

Varying  usage.  Gladli-er  VI  731  is  contrary  to  every 
other  case  of  -ier  and  -iest  in  P.  L.  •  thus  VIII  47  gladlier. 

Gabriel  and  Uriel,  though  generally  regular,  show  each  one  excep- 
tion,— Gabri-el  initially  IV  865,  and  Uri-el  III  648.  In  I  112 

*As  to  the  scansion  of  immediately  in  XI  477  and  XII  87,  we  hare  the  choice 
between 

III  III 

immediately  a  place,      immediately  inordinate. 
and  /  -/  /  /  -/  /        / 

immtdi-ately  a  place,      immedi-ately  inordinate  ; 

but  the  only  possible  scansion  of  VII  285,  immediately  the  mountain,  would  show 
the  former  of  the  above  pairs  to  be  right. 


38  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

we  find  the  adjective  suppliant,  in  X  917  the  noun  suppli-ant. 

The  difference  is  hardly  due  to  the  difference  of  grammatical 
category.  It  is  more  probable  that  the  final  position  of  the 
latter  word  tends  to  cause  its  fuller  form.  I  have  not  collected 
many  data  to  verify  this  hypothesis — i.  e.,  that  final  position 
in  the  line  tends  to  preserve  the  fuller  form  of  the  word,  but 
examples  like  the  following  point  to  such  a  tendency, 

Final :  effemi-nate  Non-final :  effeminate 

gene-rate  temperate 

exasper-ate  regenerate 

dolo-rous  dolorous. 

7.  o  before  or  after  tonic  vowel.     Dieresis  is  universal :  Cho- 
aspes;  cha-os,  Nebai-oth,  Galile-o,  Le-o,  mete-orous  (cf.  meteor  in  4)r 
Chi-os,  Hermi-one,  li-on,  vi-olated,  vi-olet,  etc. 

8.  o  -}-  atonic  vowel.     Synizesis  :    arrowy,  bellowing,  echoing, 

followers,  Meroe,  Samoed,  Siloa. 

^  ^  >        -^          ^          /  / 

Exceptional  dieresis  in  the  the-ologians  and  pi-oneers  is  due  to 

the  strength  of  initial  syllables.  Aro-er  preserves  the  fuller  form 
perhaps  because  it  is  a  proper  name. 

9.  u  before  or  after  tonic  vowel.     Dieresis  :  fru-ition  ;  Ima-us, 

I  i 

Asmode-us,  Lycce-us,  tri-umph,  pi-ous. 

Exceptional  synizesis  :  puissance,  puissant. 

10.  w  H-  atonic  vowel.     Synizesis  is  usual :   assiduous,  casual r 
extenuate,  fluctuates,  impetuous,  Joshua,  mellifluous,  presumptuously  f 
profluent,  sensualist,  transpicuous,  visual,  voluptuous,  virtuousest,  etc. 

Exceptional  dieresis:  vacu-ous  VII  169.  Dieresis  in  situ-ate 
VI  641  may  be  due  to  the  exceptional  syncopation  of  the  past- 
participial  ending  in  a  verb  which  ends  in  a  dental  (cf.  Part  I,  Ay). 
Any  further  shortening  would  be  undesirable.  Dieresis  in  sanctu- 
ary, insinu-ating,  situ-ation,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  of  the  two  final 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  39 

syllables  bearing  secondary  accent  the  next  to  last  is  the  more 
suitable  for  use  as  arsis. 

Variations.  In  influence  dieresis  occurs  seven  times,  synizesis 
twice.  Possible  the  u  is  kept  so  often  in  a  separate  syllable  by 
the  double  consonant  preceding  it,  for  when  it  suffers  synizesis 
the  second  syllable  starts  off  with  the  heavy  consonant  combina- 
tion flu.  Superfluous,  on  the  other  hand,  inclines  strangely  enough 

to  the  form  superfluous  which  occurs  three  times,  while  we  find 

superflu-ous  but  once,  IV  832.  The  different  behaviour  of  the  two 
words  is  perhaps  due  to  the  fact  that  in  the  latter  word  the /can 
combine  with  the  previous  syllable  much  more  easily  than  in  the 
former  word,  thus  in-flu-ence  but  superf-luous. 

Five  times  spiritual  forms  but  two  syllables,  and  is  therefore 
scanned  spiritual.  Four  times  it  forms  three  syllables.  It  is 

impossible  to  say  in  the  latter  case  whether  it  shall  be  scanned 
spiritu-al  or  spir-itual,  spirit  being  as  customary  in  Milton's  usage 

as  in  -ual.  The  trisyllabic  occurrences  are  (initial)  IV  585,  V 
406,  XII  521,  (medial)  V  573. 

11.  In  other  tonic  combinations  synizesis  is  usual.  This  seems 
contrary  to  the  general  rule,  -ower  and  -our  are  triphthongal  in 
nature,  due  to  a  vocalic  glide  preceding  the  r;  but  the  triphthong 
never  breaks  up  into  two  syllables  save  occasionally  in  the  case 
of  flower  and  power.  Some  of  these  words  are  bower,  coivering, 
dower,  hour,  lour,  powerful,  shower,  tower.  Flower  and  power,  too, 
are  always  monosyllabic  except  in  one  instance  each  : 

Withfiow-ers,  garlands,  and  sweet-smelling  herbs.     IV  709. 

At  which  command  the  pow-ers  militant.    VI  61. 
Flower  is  very  frequently  final,  in  which  position,  due  to  the  great 
preponderance  of  masculine  endings,  a  word  is  best  considered 
monosyllabic. 

Similarly  we  have  diphthongs  and  triphthongs,  not  dieresis,  in 
faery,  fiery,  prayers,  sewers.  Friars,  which  occurs  but  once  and 

then  finally,  is  from  its  position  probably  a  monosyllable. 

loward  and  towards.  This  word  in  its  two  forms  is  almost 
always  monosyllabic.  In  five  cases,  however,  it  must  be  scanned 


40  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

as  two  syllables.    Two  of  the  lines  containing  its  dissyllabic  form, 
Straight  to-ward  heav'n  my  wond'ring  eyes  I  turned.  VIII  257, 

Safe  to-wards  Canaan  from  the  shore  advance.     XII  215, 
are,  if  scanned  as  suggested  with  inverted  initial  foot,  ambiguous 
as  to  the  accentuation  of  to-ward(s).     But  VI  648, 

When  coming  to-wards  them  so  dread  they  saw. 
gives  the  word  initial  accent,  as  do  also  lines  IX  495  and  XII  296. 

ft.    The  development  of  syllabic  nasals  and  liquids  and  their  syni- 
zesis  with  contiguous  syllables. 

An  atonic  syllable  containing  a  nasal  or  a  liquid  tends  to  lose 
its  vowel,  letting  the  nasal  or  liquid  become  syllabic.  The  syllabic 
nasal  or  liquid  may  then  suffer  synizesis  with  the  contiguous 
syllable.  The  cases  are  three : — 

I.  The  syllabic  nasal  or  liquid  undergoes  synizesis  with   an 
atonic  vowel :  bordering  >  bord-r-ing  >  bordering. 

II.  The  syllabic  nasal  or  liquid  undergoes  synizesis  with  the 
tonic  syllable.     Of  this  there  are  two  cases  : — 

a.  The  syllabic  nasal  or  liquid  has  developed  from  vowel  -f-  nasal 
or  liquid.     Then  the  synizesis  is  with,  not  the  tonic  vowel  but,  the 
tonic  syllable,  which  must  end  in  a  very  sonorous  sound. 

Thus  fallen  >falln  >falln. 

b.  The  syllabic  nasal  or  liquid  has  developed  from  nasal  or 
liquid  +  vowel.     The  synizesis  is  then  with  the  tonic  vowel.     Thus 
flourishing  >flourshing  ^flourishing. 

Taking  up  these  cases  in  turn  we  shall  find  that  I,  the  synizesis 
of  the  syllabic  nasal  or  liquid  with  the  atonic  vowel,  is  common ; 
while  II  a  and  b,  the  (development  and)  synizesis  of  the  syllabic 
nasal  or  liquid  with  the  tonic  syllable,  is  unusual.  The  similarity 
of  these  usages  to  the  general  rule  for  the  synizesis  and  dieresis 
of  vowels  is  evident  (cf.  Part  I,  Aa). 

I.  /.  Development  and  synizesis  of  I  with  an  atonic  syl- 
lable is  fairly  frequent :  javelin,  devilish,  articulate,  credulous  (in 

IX  644;    in  P.  E.  II  166  the  fuller  form  occurs),  oraculous, 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  41 

pendulous,  popular.     In  these  latter  words  the  u  must  have  been 

yet  a  monophthong, — not  a  diphthong  as  at  present.  A  set  of 
words  belonging  here  is  formed  by  derivatives  from  words  in 
-ble  :  f 'able -j- ing  =fab1-\- ing  >/a&/ -ing  (three  syllables)  >  fabling 
(two  syllables).  This  is  true  synizesis  of  I,  and  when  we  add  this 
category  to  the  words  first  mentioned,  the  forms  showing  synizesis 
preponderate  over  the  fuller  forms  now  to  be  cited. 

The  fuller  forms  are  frequent :  Sofa-la,  vassa-lage,  marvel-ling, 
fami-ly,  deso-late)  fraudu-lent,  regu-lar,  Baby-Ion,  etc. 

Varying  usage  is  found  in  perilous  which  is  once  dissyllabic 
(I  276)  and  once  trisyllabic  (II 420).  We  have  orbicular  in  X  381, 

but  orbicu-lar  in  III  718.  Populous  shows  synizesis  of  /  three 
times  (I  351,  770,  IX  445)  against  its  fuller  form  twice  (II  903, 
VII  146).  With  the  last  word  we  should  compare  the  scansion 
popular,  which  is  used  in  all  four  occurrences  of  this  word. 

77i.  Development  and  consequent  synizesis  of  syllabic  ra  does 
not  occur.  Thus  :  tourna-ment,  ele-ment,  impedi-ment,  astrono-mer, 
Solo-mon,  etc.  This  constancy  of  usage  enables  us  to  decide 
between  the  two  possible  scansions  of  IX  494  and  IX  905,  which 
we  must  read 

So  spake  the  ene-my  of  mankind,  enclosed. 

I  I        — 't 

Of  ene-my  hath  beguil'd  ihee,  yet  unknown. 

instead  of  scanning  enemy,  with  hiatus  between  the  y  and  the  next 
word. 

n.  Development  and  consequent  synizesis  of  syllabic  n  is 
very  common  :  covenant,  bituminous,  business,  reasoning,  reasonant, 

unseasonable.  Further,  the  very  large  class  of  present  participles 
of  verbs  in  -en :  betokening,  chastening,  hardening,  etc. 

But  the  fuller  form  of  similar  words  is  very  common  also : 
compa-ny,  arse-nal,  proge-ny,  enni-nence,  imagi-ning,  coro-net, 
fortu-nate,  etc. 

The  words  that  vary  are  countenance,  which  is  generally 
shortened,  but  occurs  in  its  full  form  in  III  730 ;  original,  which 


42  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

is  shortened  four  times,  but  occurs  thrice  in  its  full  form,  II  375, 
IX  150,  1004,  (originals  in  its  single  occurrence  is  uncontracted) ; 
lumi-nous  II  420,  luminous  VIII  140.  We  have  luminary  and 

luminaries  each  once  final,  where  it  is  impossible  to  decide  certainly 
as  to  the  scansion.  The  preponderance  of  the  masculine  ending, 
however,  is  in  favor  of  the  shortened  forms.  This  is  supported 
by  VII  385, 

With  their  bright  luminaries  that  set  and  rose. 

Usage  seems  to  be  about  equally  divided  between  the  full  and 
the  shortened  forms  in  the  words  under  this  section. 

r.  Development  and  consequent  synizesis  of  syllabic  r  is  so  fre- 
quent as  to  be  considered,  perhaps,  the  rule :  barbarous,  nectarous 

(cf.  necta-rine  below),  answering,  artillery  (cf.  mise-ry  below), 
collateral,  considerate  (cf.  gene-rate,  ite-rate  below),  deliverance 
(cf.  igno-rance  below),  difference,  feverous,  liveries  (cf.  sente-ries 
below),  mastery,  utterance,  arborous,  corporal,  labourers,  savoury, 
adventurous,  torturer. 

The  fuller  form,  however,  frequently  occurs,  as :  adulte-ry, 
circumfe-rence,  exaspe-rate,  gene-rate,  ite-rate,  mise-ry,  mode-rate, 
sente-ries,  igno-rance,  etc.  The  fuller  form  may  perhaps  be 
expected  when  the  syllable  following  the  r  is  not  a  common 
formative  element :  cata-ract,  necta-rine,  favou-rite,  cormo-rant, 
Thamy-ris.  Moreover  the  fuller  form  is  to  be  expected  when 
the  shortened  form  would  throw  a  less  suitable  syllable  into  the 
arsis :  mise-rable,  insepa-rably. 

Varying  usage  in  the  same  word  is  frequent.     In  such  words, 
however,  the  shortened  form  is  the  commoner  one.     Words  of 
which  the  reverse  is  true  are  marked  (*)  in  the  following  list 
of  words  showing  varying  syllabification  : — 
Conqueror  twice        :  conquer-ror  I  323 

:  conquer-rors  XI  695 
dangerous  generally  :  dange-rous  II  107 

desperate  II  107       :  despe-rate  III  85 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  43 

different  generally     :  different  I  636,  IX  883 
emperor  twice  :  empe-ror  II  510 

/  \ 

^innumerable  V  585  :  innume-rable  generally 

^liberal  IX  996          :  libe-ral  twice 

mineral  I  235  :  mine-ral  IV  517 

numerous  generally  :  nume-rous  XI  130 

pondering  generally  :ponde-ring  VI  127 

prosperous  II  259     :  prospe-rous  XI  364 l 

reverence  generally    :  reve-rence  VIII  599 
*reverent  mP.R.  once  :  in  P.  L.  reve-rent  three  times 

temperance  generally  :  tempe-rance  XII  583 

amorous  generally      :  amo-rous  IV  31 1,  VIII 477,  IX  1 035 

dolorous  twice  :  dolo-rous  II  619 

odorous  generally       :  odo-rous  V  482 

natural  generally        :  natu-ral  X  765 

sulphurous  twice         :  sulphu-rous  VI  512. 

In  the  above  list  the  preference  for  the  fuller  form  of  liberal  and 
reverent  is  exceptional  or  accidental.  In  the  case  of  Innumerable, 
the  fuller  form  is  preferred,  as  the  shorter  form  throws  into 
arsis-position  the  ending  -ble  which  is  less  suitable  for  this  purpose 
than  is  the  -a-. 

II  a.  The  development  of  a  syllabic  liquid  or  nasal  from 
vowel  4-  liquid  or  nasal,  and  its  consequent  synizesis  with  the 
tonic  syllable.  This  process,  or  at  least  the  synizesis,  is  exceptional, 
not  regular. 

1  It  is  interesting  to  compare  these  two  occurrences.     The  first  is  in  the  body 
of  the  line :  prosperous  of  adverse.     The  second  is  initial :  prospe-rous  or  adverse. 

Here  we  need  a  trochee  plus  an  iamb,  and  therefore  prosperous,  though  in  just 
the  same  collocation  as  in  the  first  passage,  must  be  scanned  with  one  more 
syllable. 


44  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

1.  Generally  dev-ii  and  ev-it,  but  evil  occasionally,  and  devil 
X  878. 

m.  There  is  no  word  in  which  the  treatment  of  m  according 
to  II  a.  would  be  possible. 

n. 

-len.     In  this  combination  the  fuller  form  occurs  only  in  sullen. 

Otherwise  :  befallen,  fallen,  stolen,  swoln. 

-ren,  -ron.  -ren  occurs  only  once,  i.  e.  in  barren,  which  retains 
the  full  form,  -ron  occurs  only  in  iron,  which  in  like  manner 
generally  counts  as  two  syllables. 

In  II  878,  III  594,  XI  565,  however,  iron  forms  but  one 
syllable.  In  the  first  and  last  of  these  lines, 

Of  massy  iron  or  solid  rock  with  ease. 
Labouring,  two  massy  clods  of  iron  and  brass. 

it  would  be  possible  to  let  the  n  of  irn  syllabify  with  the  initial 
vowel  of  the  following  word.  But  this  kind  of  slurring  we  shall 
later  find  to  be  quite  exceptional,  save  in  the  case  of  I  in  the 
ending  -ble.  Moreover  in  III  594, 

With  radiant  light,  as  glowing  iron  with  fire. 

synclisis  of  the  n  with  the  next  word  is  impossible,  and  here  at 
least  we  must  have  irn  >  irn. 

-ven.  This  combination  in  certain  words  retains  its  full  form  : 
clov-en,  rav-en,  riv-en,  generally  the  adjective  ev-en,  and  various 
compounds  of  wov-en.  It  is  interesting  to  note  concerning  this 
last  word  that  when  Milton  uses  the  past  participle  where  a  mono- 
syllable is  metrically  required,  he  does  not  change  wov-n  >  wovn, 

but  employs  the  n-less  form  wove  ;  as  in  III  352, 

Their  crowns  in-wove  with  amarant  and  gold, 
-ven  inclines,  however,  to  the  form  -vn:  graven,  given,  seven 

(and  its  compounds),  the  noun  even  (wherever  we  can  be  sure  of 
its  scansion,  i.  e.  medially  ;  it  is  frequently  final),  the  adverb  even  ; 
the  adjective  even  is,  however,  generally  dissyllabic,  though  it  is 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  45 

shortened  in  VI  544 ;   generally  driven,  though  driv-en  certainly 

at  least  twice,  VI  738  and  VII  185.  When  final  its  scansion  is 
of  course  ambiguous ;  as  it  is  also  in  III  677,  which  may  be  read 
in  two  ways, 

Who  justly  hath  driv-en  out  his  rebel  foes. 

I     —  I  I 

Who  justly  hath  driven  out  his  rebel  foes. 

Heaven,  simple  and  compounded,  is  regularly  monosyllabic.  Not 
infrequently,  however,  it  is  treated  as  two  syllables.  There  is 
always  a  question  how  heavenly  -j-  vowel  shall  be  scanned.  Thus 
we  have  the  two  possibilities  for  I  138, 

As  far  as  gods  and  heavenly  f  essences. 

As  far  as  gods  and  hea-venly  essences. 
The  preponderance  of  the  form  heaven  and  the  not  great  infre- 

quence  of  such  an  hiatus  as  -ly  f  essences,  would  point  to  the  first 
scansion  as  preferable.  The  other  lines  in  which  the  same  question 
arises  are  VIII  453  and  X  641.  In  XI  871  we  have  both 
synizesis  and  synclisis, 

At  present,  heavenly  instruction,  I  revive. 

-zen,  -zon.  Here  the  full  form  is  customary :  braz-en,  froz-en, 
imblaz-onry,  seas-on,  treas-on. 

Among  the  four  words  that  show  varying  syllabification,  prison 
and  reason  are  regularly  dissyllabic,  though  we  find  prison  in  I  71, 

VI  660;  and  reason  in  I  248,  VIII  591,  IX  559.     Chosen  is 

twice  dissyllabic,  I  8,  III  183,  and  twice  monosyllabic,  I  318, 
IV  691.  Risen,  which  occurs  rather  frequently,  goes  contrary  to 
the  regular  usage,  being  always  monosyllabic  in  P.  L.,  though 
once  in  P.  E.  it  appears  as  a  dissyllable,  II  127. 

r. 

The  full  form — with  a  single  exception — is  constant :   cov-er, 
hith-er,  pover-ty,  riv-ers,  and  generally  ev-er. 
The  one  exception  is  ever  III  244. 

At  first  sight  we  might  think  that  we  have  further  examples 
of  forms  similarly  shortened  in  the  monosyllabic  use  of  pillar 


46  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

II  302,  XII  202,  203  ;  whether  X  57,  XI  296  ;  savour  X  269  ; 
river  III  358.  But  we  find  that  in  each  of  these  cases  the  follow- 
ing word  begins  with  a  vowel.  We  have  accordingly  synclisis 
rather  than  synizesis.  Cf.  Part  I,  B. 

II  b.  The  development  of  a  syllabic  r  -f-  vowel,  and  its  con- 
sequent synizesis  with  the  tonic  vowel,  is  most  exceptional.  It 
takes  place  in  flourishing  in  its  only  occurrence,  P.  R.  Ill  80. 

Authority  occurs  a  number  of  times,  but  the  shortened  form 
authority  we  find  only  once,  P.  R.  II  5.  Both  of  these  reductions, 

it  is  to  be  remarked,  are  found  in  P.  J?.  Spirit(s\  however,  it 
was  Milton's  custom  from  the  beginning  of  P.  L.  to  use  as  a 
monosyllable.  The  fuller  form  occurs  about  30  times  out  of  100, 

or  1  in  3. 

/     \         /    t  \          /     \ 
In  spir-ited,  spir-itless,  spir-itous,  the  secondary  accent  on  the 

derivative  syllable  is  used  as  arsis  and  shortening  does  not  take 
place. 

In  other  words  of  the  form  of  flourishing  the  shortened  form  is 
never  used  :  car-avan,  cher-ishing,  mer-its,  glor-ify,  etc.  ; 

idol-atries,  civil-ity,  pol-icy,  vol-uble,  etc.  ; 

rem-idy,  calam-ity,  Trem-isen,  etc.  ; 

min-ister,  un-ison,  in-nocence,  etc. 

7.   Syncopation. 

Syncopation  (except  in  certain  verbal  endings)  is  most  excep- 
tional. All  the  cases  are  as  follows  :  cap'tal  II  924,  XI  343, 
XII  383  (cap-i-tal  occurs  I  756)  ;  Cap'toline  IX  508. 

No  other  instances  occur,  and  words  which  would  seem  to  lend 
themselves  excellently  to  syncopation  are  not  so  treated  :  cap-i-tol 
(P.  R.  IV  47),/eftc-z-fy,  dif-fi-cult,  etc. 


The  second  person  singular  ending  -est  is  regularly  syncopated 
both  in  the  present  and  in  the  preterite. 

Regularly  syncopated  is  the  preterite  and  past-participial  ending 
-ed,  save  in  verbs  whose  roots  end  in  d  or  t.  There  are, 
however,  a  goodly  number  of  exceptions  to  the  syncopation  of  -ed, 
and  we  have  not  infrequently  wing-ed,  bles-sed,  curs-ed,  arm-ed, 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  47 

fork-ed,  etc.  When  the  adverbial  ending  -ly  is  added  to  a  past 
participle  in  -ed,  the  fuller  form  seems  to  have  been  preferred  by 
Milton.  Is  this  preference  due  to  a  possible  acoustic  uncertainty 
as  to  form  that  might  have  resulted  from  syncopation  ?  Be  that 
as  it  may,  even  to  the  present  day,  when  -ed  is  elsewhere  uniformly 
syncopated  (except  after  t  and  d\  the  fuller  form  is  preserved 
before  -ly.  Thus  Milton  writes  : 

Deserv-edly  thou  griev'st,  composed  of  lies.     P.  R.  I  407, 
and  similarly  in  P.  E.  IV  133.     This  confirms  the  scansion  of 
II  914, 

Confus-edly,  and  which  thou  must  ever  fight. 
which  otherwise  might  have  been  read 
Confusedly,  and,  etc. 

We  have  on  the  other  hand  a  few  cases  in  which  syncopation  of 
the  past-participial  ending  in  -ed  takes  place  after  a  stem  ending 
in  t,  with  consequent  simplification  of  the  double  dental :  uplift 

I  193  (cf.  uplifted  I  347,  II  7),  unsuspect  IX  771,  convict  X  83; 
and  these  words  in  -ate :  elevate  II  558,  alienate  V  877,  infuriate 
VI  486,  situate  VI  641,  frustrate  XI  16. 

B.    SYLLABIFICATION  BETWEEN  WORDS. 

Following  ten  Brink  in  his  Chaucerian  grammar  we  use  the 
term  Elision  as  comprising  Synclisis  (many  a  man,  both  vowels 
retained  as  a  diphthong),  Crasis  (No  ingrateful  food  V  407,  loss 
of  the  second  vowel),  and  Ecthlipsis  (To  whom  thus  the  portress 

II  746,  loss  of  the  first  vowel).     It  is  generally  unnecessary  to 
distinguish  these  subdivisions  of  Elision. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Elision,  whether  Synclisis,  Crasis,  or 
Ecthlipsis,  always  means  the  monosyllabification  of  two  con- 
tiguous vocalic  elements. 

-e  of  the,  final  /  of  -ble,  and  -y  are  very  frequently  elided  before 
(or  suffer  syuclisis  with)  a  following  initial  vowel.  If,  however, 


48  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Milton's  preference  seems  here  to  elide,  the  exigencies  of  the  metre 
often  decide  between  hiatus  and  elision.  Accordingly  we  may  get 
such  a  line  as  XI  345, 

From  all  the  f  ends  of  the  earth  to  celebrate. 

Other  less  usual  elisions  are  : 

1.  (th)e,  -y,  -(b)lQ,  elided  before  h : 

the:  I  520,  577,  II°759,  III  560,  IV  610,  VI  79,  VII  322,  371, 

VIII  45,  IX  52,  X  204,  684,  XI  372,  583. 

-y:  III  677, V  366,  IX  905,  X  86, 722, 874, 906,  XI  333,  XII 340. 
-ble:  IV  250. 

2.  the  elided  before  w :  VIII  613  (the  way). 

3.  Other  vocalic  endings  elided  before  vowels  : 

to:  I  323,  IV  67,  V  271,  360,  383,  576,  614  (into),  677,  725,  VI 

316,  636,  VII  350,  IX  648,  992,  1140,  1185,  X  110,  334, 

467,  486,  XI  170,  236,  596,  XII  437,  499,  515. 
Other  o's:  I  470,  584  (Morocco),  II  450,  III  108,  V  407  (no), 

628,  IX  296  (though),  1082,  X  203,  XII  611. 
-ow:  I  558,  II  518,  III  120,  V  575,  X  717, 1092, 1104,  XI  757, 

XII  613. 
be,  thee,  me,  he,  we:  I  245,  II  703,  III  3,  IV  758,  839,  V  107, 

553,  563,  VIII  316,  IX  121,  152,  546,  570,  746,  X  75, 149, 

762,  766,  769,  795,  XI  689. 
-tue  (generally  in  virtue  ;  twice  in  continue)  : 

II  314  (continue),  III  586,  IV  371  (continue),  848,  VI  703, 

VII  236,  IX  110,  X  884. 
thou:  X  121,  758. 
journey:  V  559. 
they:  X  567. 
/..  VIII  611. 
my :  X  468. 

4.  Other  vocalic  endings  than  (th)e,  -£,  -y,  elided  before  h  : 

to:  I  524,  525,  749,  II  98,  746,  968,  V  447,  467,  VI  814,  909, 

IX  1153,  X  12,  594,  XI  453. 
thou:  X  198,  XI  347. 

be:  VIII  649. 
virtue :  X  372. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  49 

(5)  n  and  r  elided  before  vowels. 
n:  IX  764  (eaten),  IX  1025  (forbidden),  X  116  (garden),  X  983 

(begotten), 
r:   II  302  (pillar),  III  358  (river),  VIII  498  (mother),  X  269 

(savour),  X  57  and  XI  296  (whether),  XII 202  and  203  (pillar). 

There  follow  a  few  lines  in  which  care  must  be  used  in  making 

the  elisions : 

/  / 

Created  hugest  that  swim  the  ocean  stream.     I  202. 

Gamboll'd  before  them  ;  the  unwieldy  elephant.     IV  345. 
Virtue  in  her  shape  how  lovely  ;  saw  and  pin'd.     IV  848. 
No  in  grateful  food  ;  and  food  alike  those  pure.    V  407. 

Of  rainbows  and  starry  eyes.     The  waters  thus.    VII  446. 

/  / 

Leads  up  to  heav'n,  is  both  the  way  and  the  guide.    VIII  613. 

/  /  ^ 

Because  thou  hast  hearken' d  to  the  voice  'f  thy  wife.     X  198, 

(showing  also  apheresis  in  '/.) 

Against  God  only,  I  against  God  and  thee.     X  931. 
A  pillar  of  state  ;  deep  on  his  front  engraven.     II  302. 

The  phenomena  so  far  treated  under  B  correspond  to  a  and  ft 
under  A.  Corresponding  to  Ay,  Syncopation,  we  have  double 
apocope  (the  cutting  off  of  a  final  sound)  in  the  change  of  in  the 
to  i'  th>,  I  224,  XI  432  ;  and  apheresis  (the  cutting  off  of  an  initial 
sound)  of  of  thy  to  \f  thy,  X  198.  These  are  the  only  cases  of 
apocope  and  apheresis  in  the  poem. 

The  following  erroneous  scansions  containing  the  italicized  tri- 
syllabic feet  cannot  be  corrected  by  elision,  apocope,  or  apheresis. 
/  \ 

With  impetu-ous  recoil  and  jarring  sound.     II  880. 

And  Tiresi-as  and  Phineus,  prophets  old.     Ill  36. 

/      \ 
And  Cbrpore-al  to  incorporeal  turn.    V  413. 

And  propHi-SLtion  ;  all  his  works  on  me.     XI  34. 

\     / 
By  /mmzYi-ation  and  strong  sufferance.    P.R.  I  160. 

On  Lemnos,  the  Age-zai  ile ;  thus  they  relate.     I  746. 
4 


50  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Before  thy  fellows,  ambiti-ous  to  win.    VI  160. 

\ .  / . 
Therefore  thy  humili-ation.  shall  exalt.     Ill  313. 

Of  sorrow  unfeign'd,  and  humili-ation  meek.     X  1092, 1104. 

Proper  accentuation  (and  a  consequent  simple  synizesis)  will  in 
each  case  correct  the  scansion.  These  lines  will  be  therefore  treated 
in  Part  II. 


Concluding  remark  to  Part  I. 

From  the  above  data  I  think  we  may  be  sure  that  Milton's  epic 
line  is  written  upon  a  strictly  decasyllabic  basis.  If  he  meant  the 
vowels,  liquids,  and  nasals,  which  we  have  treated  above,  to  form 
independent  and  separate  syllables,  why  did  he  not  at  times  intro- 
duce hypermetric  syllables  so  hedged  about  by  consonants  as  to 
prevent  that  amalgamation  of  neighboring  vocalic  sounds  into  one 
syllable  which  we  have  advocated  ?  But  this  he  did  in  all  in  only 
the  seven  cases  pointed  out  above, — three  times  in  capital,  once  in 
Capitoline,  twice  in  in  the,  and  once  in  of  thy.  With  these  excep- 
tions, the  so-called  extra-metric  syllables  are  always  in  contact 
(generally  vocalic)  with  a  syllable  with  which  they  can  combine  by 
the  simplest  phonetic  processes — either  elision  (generally  in  the  form 
of  synclisis)  or  synizesis — to  form  a  (diphthongal)  monosyllable. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  51 


PAKT  II. 

NUMBER  AND  POSITION   OF  ACCENTS. 


The  ideas  which  underlie  my  treatment  of  the  number  and 
position  of  accents  are  not  my  own  but  are  due  to  Prof.  Jas.  W. 
Bright' s  insight  and  originality.  A  suggestive  exposition  of  some 
of  the  more  important  points  of  his  metrical  theory  is  made  by 
Dr.  Bright  in  two  articles,  the  first  being  "  Proper  Names  in  Old 
English  Verse "  in  the  Publications  of  the  Modern  Language 
Association  of  America,  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  347  ff.,  the  second  "Con- 
cerning Grammatical  Ictus  in  English  Verse "  in  An  English 
Miscellany  Presented  to  Dr.  Furnivall  in  Honour  of  his  Seventy-fifth 
Birthday,  Clarendon  Press,  Oxford,  1901,  pp.  23  ff. 

The  various  theories  as  to  the  proper  manner  of  reading 
poetry  may  be  called  the  sense-doctrine,  the  ictus-doctrine,  and 
the  rhythm-doctrine. 

The  sense-doctrine  teaches  that  the  only  way  to  preserve  the 
sense  of  a  line  of  poetry  is  to  read  it  exactly  as  if  it  were  prose. 
At  times  this  method  of  scansion  gives  good  rhythm  as  in  the 

line 

/          /  /  II 

Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste. 

but  frequently  the  rhythm  is  ruthlessly  violated : 

/  "     /  /  /p 

Of  man1  s  first  disobedience  and  the  fruit. 

This  theory  so  ignores  the  music  of  the  line  that  it  may  be  dis- 
missed from  further  consideration. 

The  ictus-doctrine  demands  that  in  reading  verse  the  words 
standing  under  the  ictus  shall  always  be  strongly  stressed,  and 
that  no  other  words  may  be  strongly  stressed.  This  method  of 
scansion  has  the  virtue  of  always  giving  a  rhythmic  reading, 

.which  may  at  times  be  consonant  with  sense,  as  in 

1(1  II 

Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste. 


52  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

but  is  quite  as  often  at  odds  with  it.     Thus  in  the  line 

Nor  served  it  to  relax  their  serried  files. 

to,  though  an  arsis,  deserves  beyond  question  only  a  weak  stress  ; 
while  in 

Of  Thammuz  yearly  wounded:  the  love-tale. 

love,  though  only  a  thesis,  must  yet  for  the  sense  be  stressed.     The 
ictus-doctrine  can  suggest  no  reading  for  these  lines. 

Thus  as  the  sense-doctrine  disregards  rhythm  for  sense,  so  the 
ictus-doctrine  disregards  sense  for  rhythm,  and  like  the  first  must 
be  dismissed. 

It  is  plain  that  we  must  have  regard  to  both  sense  and  ictus. 
Let  this  more  comprehensive  method  of  scansion  be  known  as  the 
rhythm-doctrine,  or  (to  anticipate  our  argument  by  the  name),  as 
it  also  might  be  called,  the  pitch-doctrine. 

In  exposition  of  this  rhythm-  or  pitch-doctrine,  we  must  first 
call  attention  to  one  of  the  most  essential  characteristics  of  poetic 
enunciation, — monotony  or  uniformity  in  the  utterance  of  all  the 
syllables.  Professor  Lloyd1  recognizes  four  several  types  of  oral 
English :  the  vulgar,  the  careless,  the  careful,  and  the  formal  types. 
These  types  are  described  as  differing  chiefly  in  the  matter  of 
syllabic  stress,  the  more  elevated  kinds  of  utterance  containing  few 
or  no  syllables  which  are  stressless.  'It  is  obvious  enough,'  says 
Professor  Bright, '  that  in  formal  utterance  the  language  has  qualities 
(which  may  be  described  as  musical)  which  are  available  for  artistic 
use,  and  that  these  qualities  are  bound  up  with  the  careful  observance 
of  not  only  the  principal  but  also  the  subordinate  stresses  of  the 
syllables.' 

It  is  possible  to  state  more  exactly  what  accents,  obscured  or 
neglected  in  ignobler  utterance,  are  conserved  in  more  exalted 
diction,  and  especially  in  that  of  poetry?  Such  a  statement  is 
possible.  From  the  present  day  back  to  the  earlier  Anglo-Saxon 
poetry,  English  poets  have  always  made  use  of  the  right  to  place 
the  ictus  not  only  upon  the  second  member  of  substantive  com- 
pounds, but  also  upon  such  derivative  syllables  as  -tic  (-ly),  -ness, 
-ig  (-y),  -er,  -en,  -el,  -or,  -eat,  -ing,  etc.  Cf.  the  marked  ictus  in 

1  Northern  English:  Phonetics,  Grammar,  Texts.     London:  D.  Nutt,  1899,  p.  30. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  53 

/ 
But  coloured  leaves  of  latter  rose-blossom, 

Stems  of  soft  grass,  some  withered  red  and  some 

/  / 

Fair  and  flesh-blooded ;  and  spoil  splendider 

/  / 

Of  marigold  and  great  spent  sunflower. 

Swinburne,  The  Two  Dreams. 

Here  the  ictus  is  in  conflict  with  the  natural  primary  stress 
of  the  word,  and  the  language  in  responding  to  the  exigencies  of 
verse,  yields  a  new  class  of  stresses, — new,  that  is,  from  the  point 
of  view  from  which  prose-stresses  are  usually  observed. 

In  prose  there  is  a  kindred  accentual  phenomenon  which  will 
throw  light  upon  this  phenomenon  of  verse.  When  stressed  syl- 
lables are  to  be  contrasted  or  emphasized  in  prose,  their  normal 
accent  (=  stress  -j-  pitch)  is  simply  increased  :  not  good,  but  bad. 
What  is  done  when  unstressed  syllables  are  to  be  contrasted  or 

emphasized  ?   A  reading  of  these  sentences  will  suggest  the  answer : 

/  /  / 

It  has  not  been  repaired  but  impaired.     I'm  going  towards  town 

not  from  town.     The  same  phenomenon  is  observable  in  words 

which  have  not  normally  initial  accent,  when  used  as  vocatives 

/  /  /  / 

and  exclamations  :  Elizabeth,  Jerusalem,  Precisely,  .Remarkable. 

We  see  how  easily  syllables  may  be  made  prominent  without 
disturbing  the  fixed  word-accent.  Further,  the  accent  of  these 
emphatic  prose-syllables  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  marked 
verse-stresses  in  the  above-quoted  lines  from  Swinburne.  Now 
it  can  be  easily  seen  that  the  new  prose-stress  is  not  a  word-stress 
equal  to  the  regular  word-stress  in  expiatory  force ;  nor  a  reduced 
form  of  the  expiatory  word-stress,  which  would  be  nothing  more 
than  a  secondary  accent  in  prose.  Rather,  this  new  accent  is  a 
stress  with  a  rising  inflexion,  a  pitch-accent.  The  same  is  presum- 
ably true  of  the  nearly  related  new  verse-stress  under  consideration. 
We  may  say,  therefore:  When  the  verse-accent  or  ictus  stands  in 
conflict,  it  is  attended  by  the  pitch-accent. 

This  conclusion  is  strengthened  by  an  historical  argument  hinted 
at  above.  We  saw  that  the  poets  have  always  felt  at  liberty  to 
use  for  arses  syllables  having  a  secondary  stress.  But  a  marked 
characteristic  of  secondary  stress  is  the  important  part  played  in 


54  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

it  by  the  element  of  pitch.  We  are  thus  led  in  another  way  to  the 
same  result,  i.  e.  that  the  ictus  in  conflict  is  marked  by  pitch. 

To  bring  out  somewhat  more  clearly  the  characteristics  and 
advantages  of  the  rhythm-  or  pitch-doctrine  of  scansion,  let  us 
contrast  it  with  the  doctrines  of  sense  and  ictus  above  described. 
The  advocates  of  the  sense-doctrine  claim  that  it  alone  enables 
the  meaning  of  the  verse  to  be  properly  preserved.  In  reality, 
however,  the  rhythm-doctrine  is  quite  as  efficient  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  the  meaning  of  the  line,  for  the  characterization  of  the 
ictus  by  pitch  enables  us  to  retain  the  stress  upon  important  words 
standing  in  the  thesis.  On  the  other  hand,  unimportant  syllables 
standing  in  the  arsis  can  be  marked  by  the  pitch-ictus  without 
giving  them  an  undue  (stress-)  prominence  which  would  obscure 
the  sense. 

The  ictus-doctrine  teaches  that  the  rhythm  can  be  properly 
preserved  only  when  there  is  coincidence  of  stress  and  ictus. 
Accordingly  when  a  thesis  is  stressed  or  an  arsis  unstressed,  this 
doctrine  offers  no  possible  scansion  of  the  line,  but  condemns  it  as 
unrhythmical.  The  rhythm-  or  pitch-doctrine,  finding  no  invariable 
connection  between  stress  and  ictus,  is  delivered  from  this  difficulty. 
For  remembering  that  the  ictus  (and  thus  the  rhythm)  may  depend 
much  upon  pitch,  we  see  that  a  light  syllable  if  distinguished  by 
pitch  is  sufficient  to  mark  the  rhythmic  wave,  while  a  stressed 
syllable  if  relatively  reduced  in  pitch  can  easily  stand  in  the  thesis. 

It  is  evident  therefore  that  the  rhythm-  or  pitch-doctrine  com- 
bines the  advantages  of  the  two  theories  and  preserves  at  once  the 
sense  and  the  rhythm  of  the  words.1 

Symbols  and  Terms. 

(a).  Ordinarily  a  syllable  having  primary  stress,  ',  stands  in 
the  arsis  with  the  stress  used  as  ictus. 

(0).  So  a  syllable  having  secondary  stress,  v ,  ordinarily  stands 
in  the  thesis,  the  secondary  stress  being  disregarded  metrically. 

Thus  as  examples  of  (a)  and  (/3)  : 

1  For  another  statement  of  Professor  Bright's  theory  cf.  Dr.  Julian  Huguenin^ 
Secondary  Stress  in  Anglo-Saxon  (a  Johns  Hopkins  University  diss.),  Baltimore : 
John  Murphy  Co.,  1901,  p.  6,  note  1. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  55 

/          /    \        /  /   \      / 

Of  that  forbidden  tree  whose  mortal  taste. 

(7).  A  syllable  under  secondary  stress  may,  however,  by  an 
increase  of  the  element  of  pitch,  become  available  for  use  as  an 
arsis.  The  accent  it  then  bears  is  distinguished  by  heightened 
pitch  without  increase  of  stress,  thus  differing  from  both  ordinary 
primary  and  ordinary  secondary  stress.  This  accent  shall  be 
represented  by  //,  and  may  be  conveniently  termed  the  pitch-ictus. 

(S).  Further,  the  pitch-ictus,  //,  may  also  rest  upon  an  unstressed 
syllable. 

(e).  A  stressed  syllable  may  stand  in  the  thesis,  if  its  pitch, 
relatively  to  the  contiguous  arses,  is  low.  Its  accent  shall  then  be 
represented  by  A,  and  may  be  conveniently  termed  the  reduced 
primary  stress. 

Thus  as  examples  of  (7)  (S)  (e) : 

//  A     // 

Which  of  us  who  beholds  the  bright  surface. 

(f).    Unstressed  syllables  are  represented  by  x. 

(77).    A  general  symbol  for  the  arsis  is  ~,  and  for  the  thesis  is  u. 

(6).  When  two  stressed  syllables  are  used  as  an  iamb  by  the 
reduction  of  the  pitch  on  the  first  syllable  (cf.  e),  the  resultant  foot 
may  be  called,  with  regard  to  the  heavy  stress  still  remaining  on 
the  thesis,  a  heavy  iamb,  A  J '.  Cf. 

A  / 

I  mean  of  taste,  sight,  smell ,  etc. 

(t).  When  two  lightly  stressed  syllables  are  used  as  an  iamb  by 
the  placing  of  the  pitch-ictus  on  the  second,  the  resultant  foot  may 
be  called,  with  regard  to  the  light  stress  still  remaining  on  the 

arsis,  a  light  iamb,  x  //.     Cf. 

x   // 
Nor  served  it  to  relax,  etc. 

(K).  When  the  combination  of  a  heavily  stressed  -(-  a  lightly 
stressed  syllable  is  used  as  an  iamb  by  the  reduction  of  the  pitch 
of  the  first  syllable  and  the  addition  of  the  pitch-ictus  to  the 
second  syllable,  the  resultant  foot  may  be  called,  with  regard  to 
the  combination  of  heavy  stress  still  remaining  on  the  thesis  and 
light  stress  still  remaining  on  the  arsis — a  stress-combination 
which  constantly  tends  to  turn  the  foot  into  a  trochee — an  unstable 
iamb,  A  //.  Cf. 

Which  of  us  who  beholds  the  bright  surface. 


56  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

(X).  This  conflict  between  the  stress-relation  which  favors  one 
form  of  the  foot  (in  K  a  trochee)  and  the  pitch-relation  which 
demands  the  other  form  (in  K  an  iamb)  is  termed,  simply,  conflict. 
Conflict  has  two  manifestations.  One  is  as  in  K.  Cf.  further  6-13 
below. 

The  other  .manifestation  of  conflict  is  just  the  reverse  of  the 
above,  the  stress-relation  favoring  an  ascending  rhythm,  while 
the  pitch-relation  demands  a  descending  rhythm.  Cf. 

//      A 

Yet  en|vied;  a\gainst  me|  is  all  their  rage. 
Cf.  further  3-4  below. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  each  case  of  conflict,  whether  A  f/  or  //  A, 
it  is  the  pitch-relation  which  determines  the  form  of  the  rhythm. 

1-4.     Light  and  Heavy  Iambs  (x  //,  A  '). 

1.  The  light  iamb  is  common  in  Miltonic  and  all  blank  verse  : — 

X      // 

Nor  serv'd  it  to  relax  their  serried  files.     VI  599. 
Though  the  type-line  may  be  said  to  consist  of  five  normal 
iambs  (x  ',  or  v  '),  the  commonest  form  of  the  line  has  one  light 
iamb.     Less  commonly  two  such  feet  occur : 

X      //  X       // 

Transfix  us  to  the  bottom  of  this  gulf.     I  329. 
I  cannot  cite  an  example  of  two  successive  light  iambs  in  Milton. 
If  they  occur  they  are  extremely  rare. 

2.  The  heavy  iamb  is  common  in  Miltonic  and  all  blank  verse  : 

By  conquering  this  new  world,  compel  me  now.     IV  391. 
The  heavy  iamb  is  never  used  throughout  the  whole  line ;  it 
may,  however,  occur  a  number  of  times,  and  consecutively : 

A  /A  / 

I  mean  of  taste,  sight,  smell,  herbs,  fruits,  and  flowers.  VII  527. 

A       /  A  /  A          / 

His  full  wrath  whose  thoufeeVst  as  yet  least  part.     X  951. 

3.  Light  iamb  +  heavy  iamb. — Stress  Conflict. 

In  1  and  2  we  have  had  examples  of  light  and  heavy  iambs  in 
what  might  be  called  a  normal  environment.  In  such  conditions 
the  pitch-accent  has  only  to  indicate  which  of  two  syllables  having 
equal  stress  shall  stand  at  the  crest  of  the  rhythmic  wave.  Suppose, 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  57 

however,  that  the  light  iamb  is  followed  by  a  heavy  iamb.  Here 
a  lightly  stressed  syllable  shall  be  used  as  arsis  though  directly 
followed  by  a  more  heavily  stressed  syllable.  This  is  of  course 
easily  accomplished  by  the  use  of  pitch-accent  on  the  first  arsis 
and  a  reduced  primary  stress  on  the  following  thesis,  but,  as  the 
stress-relation  remains  unchanged,  there  results  one  of  the  two 
manifestations  of  conflict  (cf.  Symbols  and  Terms  X).  Let  us  first 
consider  this  phenomenon  when 

X     //      A          / 

a.  The  conflict  occurs  in  two  words.    Examples :  but  to  bring  forth 

X         //       A  /  X     //       A  /. 

I  217,  when  with  fierce  winds  I  305,  inclination  or  sad  choice  II 

X        //       A     /  X      //    A  / 

524,  wounded  the  love-tale  1 452,  me  the  dear  pledge  II  818,  etc.,  etc. 

I  find  over  175  instances  of  this  kind  of  combination  of  light 
-f-  heavy  iamb  (with  consequent  conflict)  in  the  poem ;  but  in  some 
cases  the  method  of  scansion  might  vary. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  combination  of  light  +  heavy 
iamb  (when  the  conflict  is  between  different  words)  is  particularly 
apt  to  stand  at  the  end  of  a  line,  as  in  I  30,  40,  82,  97,  122,  217, 
238,  268,  256,  379,  452,  453,  etc. 

It  may  happen  that 

\ 

b.  The  conflict  occurs  in  the  syllables  of  one  word,  as :  a  goddess 

//    A  /  \  //  A  /  \  //     A 

among  gods  IX  547,  sentence  beyond  dust  X  805,  reluctance  against 

God  X  1045,  etc.  This  phenomenon  is  of  infrequent  occurrence. 
There  follow  all  the  instances.  Only  three  times  (marked  /.) 
does  the  word  form  the  arsis  of  the  fourth  and  the  thesis  of  the 
fifth  foot. 

Against  IV  71,  VI  813,  906,  X  931,  1045;  among  III  283, 

//A  //A  //     A 

VII  623,  IX  547  ;  becomes  XII  409  ;  before  VIII  464 ;  between 
VII  473;  beyond  II  7,  V  159,  X  463,  805;  confm'd  II  615  ; 

Jl    A  //A  //A  //A 

except  II  1032  (/.);  obscene  I  406  ;  obscure  II  132  (/.) ;  supreme 
I  735  (/.),  II  210;  unless  VIII  186.1 

1  An  analogous  accentual  development  is  to  be  observed  in  the  following  words : 
Jl          f  II        I  II         I  III  III 

ambitious  VI 160,  corporeal  V  413,  impetuous  II  880,  quintessence  III  716,  propitiation 

XI  34,  humiliation  III  313,  X  1092,  X  1104,  P.  R.  I  160.     In  these  words  we 


58  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  each  case  the  syllable  receiving  the 
pitch-accent  is  a  prefix  of  prepositional  or  adverbial  nature,  and 
may  therefore  properly  bear,  due  to  its  independent  idea-content, 
a  marked  stress.  To  this  statement  supreme  forms  an  exception. 
Here  the  prepositional  adverb  is  itself  the  root  of  the  word  and 
is  hence  peculiarly  prone  to  receive  the  accent. 

c.    The  combination  of  light  -+-  heavy  iamb  when  non-final  may 

be  easily  changed  into  triple  rhythm.      Thus  in  part  of  II  18 

X  //A          /         X      / 

and  the  \fix'd  laws\  of  heav'n  the  conflict  of  the  stress  onfix'd  with 

the  pitch  on  the  will  find  satisfaction  in  the  form  and  the  fix' d  \  laws 

of  heav'n.  This  is  more  stable  than  the  first  form,  in  that  it  does 
not  show  conflict ;  but  in  the  second  form  there  is  still  a  reduced 

A  A 

primary  stress  (on  laws),  as  there  was  in  the  first  form  (on  fix'd). 
The  second  form  is  therefore  not  so  perfectly  regular  as  to  induce 
the  reduction  of  the  first  form  thereto. 

When  the  combination  of  light  -f-  heavy  arsis  is  final  (as  it 
generally  is)1  there  is  even  less  inducement  to  change  it  to  triple 

rhythm.  Thus  the  final  feet  of  I  217  but  to  \  bring  forth,  if 
reduced  to  triple  rhythm,  would  satisfy  the  conflict  and  form  a 

X      X          /  A 

foot  with  feminine   ending,  thus,  but  to  bring  forth.      But  the 

have,  not  the  choice  of  a  secondary  accent  as  arsis  accompanied  by  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  primary  stress  to  thesis  (as  in  the  words  above  cited),  but  simply  the 
choice  of  an  unusual  one  of  two  possible  secondary  stresses  as  arsis,  leaving  the 
primary  accent  of  the  word  still  free  to  form  the  next  arsis.  That  is,  we  should 

//./  //      / 

expect  propitiation  rather  than  propitiation.    This  recession  of  secondary  accent  is 

doubtless  nearly  related  to  the  Germanic  principle  of  recession  of  primary  stress. 
A  phenomenon  just  the  reverse  of  the  above, — i.  e.  the  passing  of  the  secondary 

stress  towards  the  end  of  the  word,  is  to  be  seen  in  Tennyson's  use  of  palpitated 

for  the  more  usual  palpitated  in 
/    _     // 
Palpitated,  her  hand  shook,  and  we  heard. 

The  Princess,  IV  370. 

//    A  // 
Rhythmically  this  may  be  likened  to  Milton's  use  (later  to  be  treated)  of  universal 

forsuniversal,  which  is,  however,  grammatically  an  example  of  the  use  of  a  secondary 
accent  to  the  neglect  of  the  primary  stress,  not  of  the  choice  between  two 
secondary  accents.  x  Cf.  3  a  above. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  59 

impropriety  that  the  strongly  stressed  word  forth  should  sink 
to  the  position  of  second  syllable  in  a  feminine  combination — a 
position  that  is  properly  very  light — >makes  the  first  scansion  of 
two  light  -f-  two  heavy  syllables  when  final  the  preferable  one. 

For  examples  of  this  combination  used  non-finally  in  triple  and 
double  rhythm,  cf.  from  Browning's  Glove, 

X          X      /  A  X  / 

From  the  poor  \  slave  whose  club  [or  bare  hands  \ 

X  //A  /  X        / 

and,  And  the\fix'd  laws  \  of  heav'n.     II  18. 
For  examples  of  this  combination  used  finally  in  triple  and 
double  time,  compare  another  line  of  The  Glove, 

X        X     /  A 

And  bade  him  make  sport  \  and  at  once  stir 
(riming  with :  Up  and  out  of  his  den  the  old  monster), 

X      //      A         / 

and  I  217  :     but  to  bring  forth. 

These  comparisons  seem  to  show  that  when  non-final  the  com- 
bination is  suited  both  to  triple  and  double  rhythm ;  while,  as  final, 
its  preferable  and  more  dignified  use  is  in  double  rhythm. 

4.     Anapaestic  postponement  of  Arsis. 

There  is  a  scansion  of  two  light  -f-  two  heavy  syllables  which 
may  suitably  be  here  pointed  out  as  erroneous.  It  may  be  called 
the  anapaestic  postponement  of  the  arsis  and  is  just  the  inverse  of 
the  phenomenon  called  trochaic  substitution  to  be  considered  under 
(5).  Like  most  errors  in  scansion  it  arises  from  paying  undue 
attention  to  the  logical  or  prose-emphasis.  It  may  be  represented 

thus: 

x    x      /       / 
I  217,     How  all  his  malice  serv'd  but  to  bring  forth. 

The  arguments  against  such  a  scansion  are  several,     (a)  It  is 

condemned  by  an  appeal  to  the  rhythmic  sense.     (6)  It  leaves  one 

x    x 
foot  (but  to)  without  an  arsis  or  verse-accent,  and  it  gives  to  another 

foot  (bring  forth)  two  ictus,  (c)  A  comparison  with  Anglo-Saxon 
usage.  Trochaic  substitution,  or  something  very  much  like  it,  is 
freely  allowed  in  Anglo-Saxon  verse.  Thus  of  type  B,  x  JL  x  29 
types  E  and  C  may  be  considered  as  variations  due  to  trochaic 
substitution  in  the  first  and  second  feet  respectively ;  thus  E  = 
-L  x  x  4  and  C  =  x  J.J.  x.  So  in  type  A,  2  x  +  x,  inversion  of  the 


60  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

first  thesis  and  second  arsis  (or  trochaic  substitution)  produces  D, 
_/_/x  x.  There  is  one,  and  only  one,  more  imaginable  combination 
of  two  theses  and  two  arses,  namely  xx_£-^.  This  would  be  a 
variant  formed  from  B,  x  ~  x  ~,  by  an  accent-shift  the  exact  inverse 
of  trochaic  substitution  affecting  the  second  and  third  verse-ele- 
ments, or  in  other  words  by  the  anapaestic  postponement  of  the 
accent.  But  this  form  x  x -^  is  forbidden  in  Anglo-Saxon  verse. 
It  is  this  very  same  faulty  rhythm  which  renders  invalid,  I 

believe,  the  reading 

x    x     /          / 
Pursues  as  inclination  or  sad  choice. 

5.     Trochaic  Substitution. 

The  normal  combination  used  for  making  an  iamb  is  x  '.  We 
have  seen  in  (1)  and  (2)  that  verse-ictus  or  pitch  can  turn  x  x  and 
7  7  into  iambs,  thus  x  H  and  A  '.  We  may  go  further.  Even  a 
descending  prose-combination,  /  x,  or  x  v ,  can  be  turned  into  an 
iamb  by  pitch,  thus  A  //.  For  example 

A    // 

VII  311,     .  .  yielding  fruit  \  after  \  her  kind,  or 

A       // 

II  544,  Through  pain  \up  by\  the  roots.  .  .  . 
Here,  as  in  (3),  there  is  conflict  of  pitch  and  stress.  But 
here,  unlike  the  phenomenon  treated  there,  reconciliation  of  the 
opposing  accents  may  under  conditions  take  place.  For  initially  or 
after  a  strong  caesura  the  pitch-accent  passes  forward  and  coincides 
with  the  stress  and  we  get  trochaic  substitution.  Thus  initially : 

/     X  X     /  /       X     X       / 

Wasting  the  earth  II  502,  Truce  to  his  rest  II  526  ; 

and  after  the  caesura,  where  the  substitution  may  be  called  ccesural  : 

I    x      x      / 
of  truce  ;  \  I  ris\  had  dipt.     XI  244, 

/     X       X   / 

by  thee,  \  vile  as  \  I  am.     X  971. 

The  restrictions  to  the  passage  of A//  to  /x  (or  /v),  are:  (a)  it 
shall  not  occur  in  the  final  foot  (cf.  6) ;  (6)  it  shall  not  occur  twice 
in  succession  (cf.  9) ;  (c)  it  shall  occur  only  after  a  distinctly 
marked  pause,  initial  or  csesural  (cf.  7  and  8). 

As  we  have  seen  in  the  Introduction,  these  rules,  deduced  from 
general  usage  and  an  appeal  to  the  rhythmic  sense,  are  often 
violated  by  metricians.  Thus  Mr.  Bridges  inverts  the  final  foot 
of  X  840, 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  ike  Paradise  Lost.  61 

/ 
Beyond  all  past  example  and  future. 

It  were  to  be  wished  that  the  sense  of  the  line  described  his 
method  of  scanning  it.  Unfortunately  he  has  not  been  the  only 
one  so  to  read  it,  nor  yet  will  he  be.  Further,  he  inverts  two 
successive  feet  in  VI  906, 

As  a  despite  \  done  a\gainst  the  \  Most  High. 
and  makes  a  non-csesural  inversion  in  I  253, 

A  mind  \  not  to  \  be  changed  by  time  or  place. 
Do  levelly  stressed  syllables  ever  take  on  the  trochaic  form  ? 
Mr.  Bridges   says  (Milton1  s  Prosody,  p.  17)  "Initial  weak  feet 
are  almost  always  made  up  of  two  monosyllables,  and  a  slight  accent 
will  be  given  in  reading  to  the  first  of  them  so  that  the  foot  is 
really  inverted,"  an  inverted  foot  being  of  course  another  expres- 
sion for  trochaic  substitution.     He  cites  I  498, 
And  in  luxurious  cities,  etc. 

Again  (p.  19)  he  says,  "As  a  general  rule,  when  the  first  foot  is 
weak  it  will  strengthen  itself  by  a  slight  conventional  inversion 
in  spite  of  the  sense,  e.  g.  I  259,  We  shall  be  free  .  .  .  ."  This, 
however,  is  a  matter  of  individual  choice,  and  I  should  prefer 
to  read  each  of  the  above-cited  initial  feet  as  an  iamb. 

According  to  the  above-stated  restrictions  (a)  and  (b),  trochaic 
substitution  may  occur  in  the  verse  as  a  whole  as  follows : 
in  foot  1,  (2),  3,  or  4; 
in  feet  1  and  3,  1  and  4,  (or  2  and  4). 

The  most  frequent  place  for  it  is  of  course  in  the  initial  foot. 
Since  a  caesura  after  the  first  foot  is  rare,  inversion  in  the  second 

foot  is  very  infrequent.     It  probably  occurs  in 

/     x    x     / 
0  Hell!   What  do  mine  eyes  with  grief  behold.     IV  358. 

Inversion  at  once  in  the  second  and  fourth  feet  would  be  even 
rarer. 

Trochee  +  Heavy  Iamb  =  E2. 

A  marked  and  beautiful  effect,  which  I  have  not  seen  recognized 
by  the  metricians,  is  gained  when  the  trochee  precedes  a  heavy 
iamb,  as  in  X  96, 

/  X     A         / 

Came  the  mild  judge  .... 


62  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

The  similarity  frequently  pointed  out  between  type  E  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  verse  and  the  common  combination  of  a  trochee  -j-  an  iamb, 
becomes  well-nigh  an  identity,  if,  more  narrowly,  we  specify 
E2  and,  for  the  modern  combination,  a  trochee  +  a  heavy  iamb. 

/     X     \  /  /  X      A         / 

Compare  mor]>orbed  sired  and  Game  the  mild  judge. 

I  find  about  175  examples  of  this  combination,  counting  both 
its  initial  and  its  ceesural  occurrences.  Some  of  the  cases  could 
of  course  be  differently  scanned.  The  combination  is  much  less 
frequent  csesurallv  than  initially.  Initially: 

/        X      A      "    /  /  X     A          / 

Nor  the  deep  tract.    I  28,     Both  the  \  lost  hap\piness.    I  55, 

/          X   A  / 

On  the  firm  brimstone.     I  350,  etc. 
Csesurally : 

/          X      A  / 

Shall  long  usurp;  ere  the  third  dawning  light.     XII  421, 

/   X       A  / 

Stood  whispering  soft,  by  a  fresh  fountain  side.     IV  326. 

6-8.     The  Unstable  Iamb  in  Normal  Environment. 

6.  The  final  unstable  iamb.    Whatever  licenses  are  allowed  to 
the  earlier  part  of  the  verse,  the  final  foot  must  always  leave  on 
the  ear  the  true  iambic  cadence.      If  therefore  a  word  of  the 
form  '  x  ends  a  line  it  must  always  be  used  as  an  unstable  iamb 
A  //.     Thus, 

Which  of  us  who  beholds  the  bright  surface.     VI  472, 

A// 

Beyond  all  past  example  and  future.     X  840. 
For  a  list  of  the  unstable  iambs,  see  7. 

7.  The  non-ccesural  unstable  iamb  formed  by  one  word.     Since 
trochaic  substitution  may  occur  in  the  body  of  the  line  only  after 

a  caesura  (cf.  5),  we  shall  have  to  read  the  words  the  other  way 

I  t       All  I  II 

Satan,  as  the  other  way  Satan  not  the  other  way  Satan,  although 

Satan  is  our  natural  pronunciation  of  the  word.  That  is,  if  a 
naturally  trochaic  word  appears  in  the  body  of  the  verse  non- 
.csesurally,  we  must  have  recourse  to  the  pitch-accent  to  give  to 
the  word  an  iambic  form. 

As  it  is  often  a  matter  of  opinion  whether  or  not  a  strong 
enough  caesura  for  a  following  inversion  (=  an  inversion-ccesura) 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  63 

exists  at  any  given  point,  there  is  a  corresponding  difference  of 
opinion  whether  the  combination  /x  shall  go  into  verse  as  a 
trochaic  substitution  7  x  or  as  an  unstable  iamb  A  //.  For 
instance  in 

Gods,  yet  confest  \  later  than  heav'n  or  earth.     I  509, 

A  //  /  X 

shall  we  consider  later  to  be  an  iamb  later  or  a  trochee  later  ^ 
That  is,  does  an  in  version -caesura  exist  before  it? 

In  extreme  cases  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  thus  in  V  750, 

In  their  triple  degrees  ;  regions  in  which. 

there  is  as  unquestionably  no  inversion-csesura  after  their,  as  their 
is  one  after  degrees.  Accordingly  we  read 

A    //  /    X 

In  their  triple  degrees  ;  regions  in  which. 
with  triple  as  an  unstable  iamb,  but  regions  as  a  trochee. 

In  order  that  we  may  have  a  criterion  which  is  not  largely 
subjective,  let  us  say  that  an  in  version  -caBsura  shall  be  considered 
to  exist  only  at  a  punctuation  point. 

According  to  this,  I  find  in  the  poem  some  69  cases  of  words 
the  ordinary  forms  of  which  are  trochaic,  but  which  must  be  used 
as  an  unstable  iamb.  An  approximately  full  list  of  these  words, 
and  of  other  similar  unstable  iambs  which  resist  the  trochaic 
form  either  on  account  of  their  final  position  (cf.  6)  or  on  account 
of  an  immediately  preceding  trochee  (cf.  9),  is  as  follows.  Only 
one  passage  is  cited  for  each  word.  The  order  is  alphabetical 
according  to  the  ending  which  bears  the  verse-stress. 

A     //  A    //  A      // 

-ace :  surface  VI  472;   -age:  image  VII  527;   -al:  equaWd 

II        A     //  A//  A     // 

III  33,  (universal  VI  34,  trial  IX  370;    -edge:  knowledge  VII 

A   // 

543;    -en:  loaden  IV  147,  garden  VIII  299;  -ent:  orient  VI 

524  ;  -er:  never  I  159,  under  I  345,  later  I  509,  whether  IV  907, 
ever  V  810,  other  V  884,  mightier  VI  32,  after  VII  311,  worthier 

IX  100,  over  X   253,  waters  X  79;    -es:   races  IX   33;    -eat: 
bmiest  XI  490  ;  -y :  rallied  (=  rally' d)  VI  786,  glory  (the  second) 

X  722,  only  X    936  ;    -ing :    rolling  II   873,  shading  III  357, 
listening  VII  106,  borrowing  VII  177,  gardening  IX  203,  roving 

IX  575,  dropping  IX  582,  blowing  X  289,  arming  XI  374 ;  -/ : 


64  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

sprinkl'd  III  642,  triple  V  750  ;  -on  :  visions  XI  377  ;  -u  :  argues 

II  234;  -ure:  nature's  IV  207,  azure1  VII  479,  future  X  840. 

Trisyllabic    words2:    audibly  Nil    518  -;    bottomless  V   866  ; 

A    //  A   //  A   //  A// 

infinite  V  874  ;    odorous  V  483  ;    popular  VII  488  ;    (invisible 

III  586,  VII  122  ;   vo^6/e  IX  436  ;   carbuncle  III  596. 

The  following  notes  will  justify,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  the 
employment  of  the  secondary  stresses  in  the  above  words  :  (Old) 

Fr.  surface,  image,  equal,  universal.    Trial,  composed  of  the  M.  E. 

vb.  trie  'to  pick  out'  -}-  the  suffix  -al,  would  be  accented  finally 

/  / 

in  analogy  to  such  words  as  equal,  universal. 

Knowledge,  coming  from  the  M.  E.  vb.  knowleche  which  accord- 
ing to  Kluge  and  Lutz  presupposes  an  A.-S.  *gecndwlcecan  in 
which  the  secondary  stress  on  the  second  member  of  the  com- 
pound would  frequently  fall  in  the  arsis,  is  thus  justified  in 

occurring  as  knowledge. 

From  A.-S.  times  the  past-participle   ending  -en  was  capable 

of  bearing  the  ictus. 

/          / 
(Old)  Fr.  gardin,  orient. 

Words  in  -er.     Nouns  of  agency  in  -er  might  utilize  as  ictus 

the  secondary  stress  on  the  derivative  element  in  A.-S.     Thus 

/  \ 
se  fiscere.     In  the  above  list  there  is  no  word  of  this  nature  ;  but 

other  words  in  -er,  whether  the  -er  be  original  as  in  waters, 
whether,  under,  etc.,  or  derived  from  -r(e),  -r(a)  as  in  never,  later, 
etc.,  have  conformed  to  the  accentuation  of  nouns  of  agency  in  -er. 


the  trochaic  form  of  the  word  cf.  I  297, 

/  /  // 

On  heaven's  azure  ;  and  the  torrid  climb. 

The  unstable  iambic  form  occurs  in  VII  479,  . 

/  /  / 

.  .  .  and  purple,  azure  and  green. 

and  in  IX  429,  Carnation,  purple,  azure,  or  spectft  .... 
In  the  last  two  cases  Mr.  Bridges  scans  quite  erroneously, 

.  .  .  and  purple,  azure  and  green. 

I         /v^x  / 

Carnation,  purple,  azure  or  speck1  1  .... 

This  elision  of  -ure  is  not  to  be  accepted. 
2  For  further  remarks  on  bottomless  and  popular  cf.  12  ;  on  infinite  and  odorous  cf.  9. 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  65 

races :  the  nom.  plu.  ending  -as  does  not  have  a  secondary 
stress  in  A.-S. 

busiest :  the  secondary  stress  on  the  superlative  ending  -est  in 
A.-S.  may  afford  an  arsis. 

The  f  jrms  rally  and  argue  are  to  be  held  together.  In  the 
French  forms  there  is  a  following  syllable  which  receives  the 

accent :  rallier,  arguer.  When  in  passing  into  English  the  Romance 
inflexional  ending  is  laid  aside,  the  accent  continues  final. 

Glory,  coming  from  the  Fr.  form  glorie  which  ends  in  a  mute  e 
that  never  receives  the  accent,  should  retain  the  root-accent  of 

its  source.  We  may  say  either  that  glory  is  accented  finally  in 
analogy  to  other  Romance  words,  or  under  the  influence  of  native 
words  in  -tic,  an  ending  always  bearing  secondary  stress  and 
capable  of  standing  in  the  arsis. 

Such  a  word  is  only  <  antic. 

The  ending  -ing  inherits  its  accent  from  A.-S.  -ing  (-ung),  which, 
however,  was  a  nominal  not  a  participial  derivative.  It  is  interest- 
ing to  observe  that  the  ending  -end  of  the  present  participle  in 
A.-S.  bore  a  secondary  stress  which  could  always  be  used  as  arsis. 

The  accent  on  the  syllabic  I  in  the  frequentative  ending  of  the 
native  word  sprinkle  and  in  the  ending  of  the  French  word  triple 
is  not  etymologically  justifiable.  It  must  therefore  be  due  to  the 

influence  of  some  analogy. 

/          /   "       / 
(Old)  Fr.  vision,  azur,  nature,  etc. 

Of  the  trisyllabic  words,  the  accents  of  a  number  are  explained 
by  the  Lat.  (-Fr.)  accents  :  audibilis,  odorus,  visibilis,  volubilis, 

carbunculus. 

II 
In  bottomless)  we  see  the  utilization  of  the  secondary  accent 

on  what  is  felt  to  be  a  derivative  syllable  in  analogy  to  the 
accent  resting  on  many  derivative  syllables  from  A.-S.  times. 

infinite  is  probably  under  the  influence  of  the  simple  word  finite. 

popular  would  seem  to  be  anomalous.  Cf.  Lat.  popularis,  and 
Fr.  populaire. 

8.    The  unstable  iamb  formed  by  two  words.    The  syllables  form- 
ing the  unstable  iamb  may  belong  (not  as  in  7  to  the  same  word, 
but)  to  separate  words ;  as  in  VI  796, 
5 


66  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

A      // 

Against  \  God  and  \  Messiah,  or  to  fall. 

A        //  A  // 

Other  examples  :  is  low  raise  and  I  23,  a  veil  down  to  IV  304. 

A          // 

uncropt  falls  to  IV  731.  The  two-word  composition  of  the  un- 
stable iamb  is  much  more  common  than  its  one- word  composition. 
It  seems  also  to  be  far  less  unstable  than  the  unstable  iamb  com- 
posed of  one  word,  often  not  inverting  into  a  trochee  even  after 
an  inversion-ca3sura.  Examples  with  a  marked  caBSura  and  yet 
perhaps  not  showing  inversion  are 

A  // 

Deep  malice  to  conceal,  couch' t  with  revenge.     IV  123. 

A       // 

Squat  like  a  toad,  close  at  the  ear  of  Eve.     IV  800. 
One  may,  however,  invert  these  feet  after  the  strong  caBSura. 

Of  course  a  most  important  element  to  be  considered  in  each 
case,  where  inversion  is  a  matter  of  choice,  is  the  relative  strength 
and  weakness  of  the  first  and  second  words.  For  all  kinds  of 
relation  are  possible,  from  almost  level  stress  (when  inversion 
would  not  be  expected)  to  the  case  where  the  first  syllable  so 
out-weighs  the  second  that  inversion  becomes  necessary. 


9-11.     The  unstable  iarnb  in  combination  with  other  feet 
than  stable  iambs. 

9.    Trochee  -f-  unstable  iamb. 

Inasmuch  as  two  successive  trochaic  substitutions  would  destroy 
the  iambic  rhythm  of  the  line,  four  syllables  which  would  naturally 
form  two  trochees  are  put  into  the  heroic  line  as  a  trochee  -\-  an 

unstable  iamb.      Thus   we   scan  :    Save   what   sin  hath  VI  691, 

//      A     //  /  A//  /  A     // 

Universal  VI  34,  By  the  waters  XI  79,  To  the  garden  VIII  299, 

/  A    //  t  /  X      A    // 

Thro'  the   infinite  host  V  874,  Spirits   odorous  breathes  V  483, 

/  A  Jl 

In  the  visions  XI  377,  etc.  The  instances  of  such  unstable 
iambs  when  composed  of  the  syllables  of  one  word  are  included  in 
the  list  given  in  7.  The  relative  weight  of  the  syllables  composing 
the  unstable  iamb  may  vary.  Thus  more  nearly  levelly  accented 
than  the  above  examples  are  the  iambs  in  :  Where  and  what  art 
II  681,  On  a  sunbeam  IV  556,  Soon  as  midnight  V  667,  etc. 
These  may  perhaps  be  considered  heavy,  rather  than  unstable,  iambs ; 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  67 

A  / 

as  we  must  certainly  consider  the  iamb  in  :  Nor  the  deep  tract 
128. 

Remark.  The  unstable  iamb  is  more  unstable  after  a  trochee, 
as  in  this  section,  than  after  a  stable  iamb,  as  in  6,  7,  and 
8.  The  reason  is  easy  to  see.  In  the  first  case,  as  for  exam- 

/       X      A      // 

pie  in  To  the  garden  VIII  299,  the  suppressed  primary  accent 
on  gar-  tends  to  the  arsis-position,  being  more  prominent  not 
only  than  -den  but  also  than  the.  It  is  doubly  hard,  therefore, 
for  gar-  to  sink  to  the  thesis. 

X       /        A// 

In  the  second  case,  however,  as  for  example  in  confest  later 
I  509,  the  inducement  to  put  la-  in  the  arsis  arises  solely  from  its 
prominence  over  -ter.  The  preceding  syllable  -feat  does  not  (as  in 
the  first  case)  tend  to  throw  la-  into  the  arsis,  the  two  being 
equally  heavy. 

10.    Unstable  iamb  -f  heavy  iamb. 

When  the  unstable  iamb  is  in  the  body  of  the  line,  it  will 
usually  be  both  preceded  and  followed  by  the  normal  iamb,  as  in 

-    X       /  A      //  X        / 

What  |  is  low  \  raise  and  \  support. 

Here  there  is  conflict  between  raise  and  and,  but  and  and  sup-, 
with  their  level  light  stress,  and  low  and  raise,  with  their  level 
heavy  stress,  show  no  conflict.  They  are  differentiated  into  arses 
and  theses  (without  conflict)  by  the  pitch-accent. 

But  if,  in  the  place  of  the  light  syllable  sup-,  we  have  a  heavy 
syllable,  then  evidently  there  will  be  conflict  between  and  and  the 
following  as  well  as  the  preceding  syllable.  The  effect  is  peculiar 
and  marked  : 

A      //  A  / 

And  out  of  good  still  to  find  means  of  evil.     I  165. 

A     //      A          / 

Behold  me  then,  me  for  him,  life  for  life.     Ill  236. 
Ceas'd  warbling,  but  all  night  tun'd  her  soft  lay.    VII  436. 

A         //       A  / 

For  gods  I    Yet  him  God  the  Most  High  vouchsafes.    XII  120. 

Initially  and  after  a  strong  ca3sura  the  first  foot  of  this  com- 
bination may  be  inverted,  giving  a  combination  already  treated 
in  5.  Thus, 

To  judge  them  with  his  saints  ;  him  the  Most  High.    XI  705  ; 
and  initially, 


68          Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

I  X     A         / 

Came  the  mild  judge.    X  96. 

11.  Unstable  iamb  -f-  unstable  iamb. 

The  combination  treated  in  10  is  rather  jolting,  and,  moreover, 
is  somewhat  unstable,  tending  to  invert  the  first  foot  to  a  trochee. 
Both  the  jolting  effect  and  the  unstability  are  increased  if  the 
arsis  of  the  second  foot  is  lightened  and  we  get  the  combination 
unstable  iamb  -\-  unstable  iamb  ;  as  in  X  178, 

A          //     A       // 

And  dust  shall  eat  all  the  days  of  thy  life. 
This  rhythm  can  hardly  be  considered  satisfactory. 

Moreover  it  is  very  unstable,  inverting  the  first  foot  after  a 
verse-pause  and  giving  the  combination  of  trochee  +  unstable 

/        X      A  //  //A    // 

iamb,  already  treated  in  9 ;  as,  By  the  waters  XI  79,  Universal 
VI  34,  etc.;  where  conflict  remains  only  in  the  second  foot. 

Perfect  stability  would  be  gained  only  if  the  second  foot,  too, 
became  a  trochee;  but  this  would  make  the  forbidden  combination 
of  two  successive  trochees,  and  is  therefore  avoided. 

12-13.     Light  iamb  -f  unstable  iamb. 

In  the  Remark  at  the  end  of  9  we  saw  that  the  unstable 
iamb  shows  special  instability  when  it  follows  a  trochee,  as  in 

/       X       A      // 

To  the  garden,  due  to  the  fact  of  its  being  preceded  by  the 
trochee's  (light)  thesis.  It  is,  in  like  manner,  particularly  un- 
stable when  preceded  by  the  (light)  arsis  of  a  light  iamb,  as  in 

X        //  A  // 

remem\ber  and  \fear  to  VI  912.  This  combination  may  be 
followed  by  the  normal  foot  or  stable  iamb  and  then  we  get — 

12.  Light  iamb  -f  unstable  iamb  -f  stable  iamb,  as  in 

X     //  A         //        X  / 

.  .  .  remem\ber  and  \fear  to  \  transgress. 

A         // 

Here  the  instability  of  the  unstable  iamb  fear  to  is  not  increased 
by  the  following  foot,  as  to  and  trans-  are  in  expiration  about 
equal  (in  weakness).  The  instability  of  the  foot  (caused  by  the 
conflict  between  its  two  elements)  is,  however,  heightened  by  the 
weakness  of  the  preceding  arsis  and,  which  accordingly  stands  in 
conflict  with  fear.  Such  a  combination  must  stand  in  its  unstable 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  69 

form,  for  let  reconciliation  of  the  two  conflicts  take  place  and 
we  get 

XX  /         X       X  / 

-her  and  fear  to  transgress. 

But  by  so  doing  we  lose  an  arsis,  the  resulting  series  of  theses 
and  arses  forms  two  ascending  trisyllabic  feet,  and  the  whole  line 

becomes 

II  I  I 

Yet  fell;  remember  and  fear  to  transgress. 

This  stable  form  of  the  line  cannot,  of  course,  stand  in  pentametre- 
verse,  as  it  has  two  trisyllabic  feet  and  only  four  arses.  The 
unstable  form,  therefore,  with  its  conflicts  must  be  preserved. 

Other  examples  of  this  phenomenon  are  : 

X      //    A   //     X          /  X        //      A    //X         / 

to  the  bottomless  pit  VI  866,  in  her  popular  tribes  VII  488. 
These  words  show  the  use  of  a  secondary  stress  as  arsis  immedi- 
ately following  the  primary  word-stress.     Cf.  the  unstable  iambs 
in  7. 

Further  examples  are : 

X  //     A    //          X        / 

ethe\real  quintessence  \  of  heav'n.    Ill  716. 

X  ^  //         A  //  X       / 

fel\lows  am\bitious  \  to  win.   VI  160. 

X          //       A    //      X  / 

And  cor\poreal  \  to  in-.    V  413. 

X      //       A    //  X   / 

With  im\petuous  \  recoil.     II  880. 

These  words  show  the  use  of  secondary  stresses  as  arses  both 
preceding  and  following  the  primary  stress.  Cf.  3  b  and  footnote. 

Caution.     The  last  three  words  must  not  be  scanned  ambiti-ous, 

I     II  I      ll 

corpore-al,  impetu-ous.      For  thus  there  is   made  with  (the  last 

syllable  of)  the  preceding  word  a  faulty  trisyllabic  foot, 

x    x      /        // 
With  impet\u-ous   ,  etc. 
//../.  //.  /  . 

Cf.  propitiation  for  propiti-ation  in  footnote  to  3  b. 

13.    Light  iamb  -j-  unstable  iamb  -f-  heavy  iamb. 

When  an  unstable  iamb,  preceded  by  a  light  iamb,  is  followed, 
not  by  a  normal  iamb  as  in  12,  but  by  a  heavy  iamb,  we  get  the 
combination  light  iamb  -\-  unstable  iamb  -f  heavy  iamb  = 


70  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

x  II  |  A  // 1  A  /  =  fane  a\gainst  the   Most  High.   VI  906. 
This  form  is,  on  account  of  the  conflicts,  unstable,  and  tends  to  the 
more  stable  form  of  two  trisyllabic  feet,  thus, 

X        X       /  X       A  / 

done  against  \  the  Most  High. 

Here  we  evidently  have  a  reconciliation  of  the  conflict  between  a- 
and  -gamst.  But,  further,  there  is  a  reconciliation  of  the  conflict 

between  the  and  Most;   for  in  a  trisyllabic  foot,  whether  of  the 

/     \    \   /  \   / 

form  >      x,  x  x  x?  or  >      *  (as  here),  a  distinct  secondary  stress, 

here  indicated  by  (^),  is  always  possible  on  the  syllable  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  arsis.  Thus  in  the  trisyllabic  foot  the  Most 
High,  Most,  suitably  to  its  importance  in  meaning,  stands  in  the 
position  of  what  may  be  called  the  strong  thesis. 

In  VI  906  and  in  every  other  parallel  occurrence  in  heroic  verse 
the  unstable  form  is  of  course  required. 


THE  ACCENT  OF  VARIOUS  WORDS. 

Levelly  accented  compounds.  In  3  and  7  we  find  a  number  of 
words  which  by  utilizing  a  secondary  stress  cou  pass  into  verse 
as  a  trochee  or  an  iamb,  whereas  their  more  natural  form  is  an 
iamb  or  a  trochee.  This  use  of  the  secondary  accent  is  to  be 
distinguished  from  the  phenomenon  seen  in  + ^  use  of  such  a  word 
as  man-kind  as  vu^r  a  trochee  or  an  iamo.  Such  a  word  is  so 
nearly  levelly  stressed  in  natural  pronunciation  that  a  slight 
suppression  of  the  pitch  of  either  element  will  leave  the  other 
an  arsis.  Thus  Milton  writes  in  I  36, 

A         / 

The  mother  of\  man-kind  \ ,  but  in  III  275, 

/  X          /          A         / 

Found  out  |  for  man-\kind  un\der  wrath  .... 

Similarly  he  uses  as  arsis  either  the  first  or  second  syllable  of 
adverse,  also,  archfiend,  consort,  elsewhere,  falsehood,  forthwith, 
headlong,  henceforth,  into,  meanwhile,  mid-night,  off-spring,  side- 
long, sometimes,  tenfold,  thereby,  therefore,  therein,  unblest,  unwieldy, 
upright,  warlike,  whereat,  wherefore,  wherein,  whereof,  whereon, 
without,  etc. 

Good-will,  sea-beast,  star-bright,  and   other   like   words,  have 
final  accent.     But  as  they  are  of  only  a  single  occurrence,  they 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  71 

doubtless  might  as  well  have  initial  accent,  and  have,  therefore, 
like  the  above  words,  really  level  accent. 

Certain  nouns  and  adjectives. 

Among  many  nouns  and  adjectives  of  foreign  origin  not  having 
recession  of  accent,  important  are  :  blasphemous,  crystalline,  instinct 

(noun  as  well  as  adjective),  insult,  maritime  (cf.  Lat.  mari&mus). 

I  i  i  / 

obdurate,  remediless,  retinue,  sinister,  and  numerous  others,  having 

initial  accent  at  present. 

Miscellaneous  words,  chiefly  substantival. 
II        I  .      //        /         //       /         //         /     //        / 
Accessories,  acceptable,  receptacle,  contribute,  attribute. 

II       I  II       I 

In  propitiation  XI  34,  humiliation  III  313,  X  1092,  X  1104, 

(P.  R.  I  160),  we  have  examples  of  the  employment  not  of  an 
unusual  primary  but  of  an  unusual  secondary  stress.  Cf.  foot- 
note to  3  b. 

Certain  propr*-  -nmes. 

I  i 

Aegean.    In  I  746  we  must  read  Aegean  not  Aege-an,  the  accent 

we   should   expect,  according   to   the   Latin-English    method   of 

accenting   classical    v~Hs,   from    both    Latin  Aegazum  and   Gk. 

i    '  i 

.     Thus,  On  Lem\nos  th'  Ae\gean  He. 


The  form  in  P.  R.  IV  238  is  ambiguous.     Thus, 

Where  on  \  the  Ae\gean  shore  .  .  . 

or,  Where  on  \thy  Aege\-an  shore.  .  .  . 
Pearce's  note  to  I  746,  quoted  in  Todd's  Milton,  1809,  II  364, 

runs  :  "  So  he  pronounces  Aegean  in  P.  R.  IV  238.  Fairfax  led 
the  way  to  this  manner  of  pronouncing  the  word,  or  rather  to 
this  poetical  liberty  ;  for  in  his  translation  of  Tasso,  C.  I.  60, 

he  says, 

/ 
O'er  Aegean  seas,  throvgh  many  a  Greekish  hold. 

Again,  C.  XII.  63, 

As  Aegean  seas,  etc." 


72  Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Serapis  I  720.    We  must  read 

Belus  or  Serapis,  etc. 

Pearce's  note  on  this  word,  quoted  in  Todd's  Milton,  II  361  , 
runs:  "There  are  authorities  which  may  serve  to  justify  in  Milton 
this  departure  from  the  classical  accent  upon  the  second  syllable 

of  Serapis;  for  we  read  in  Martianus  Capella  '  Te  SerSpin  Nilus, 
etc/  and,  in  Prudentius,  '  Isis  enim  et  SerSpis.'  r' 

But  may  not  Milton's  accent  and  the  shortening  of  the  penult 
in  these  late  Latin  writers  both  go  back  independently  to  one 
and.  the  same  thing,  namely  the  Greek  accent  of  the  word  which 
was 


Tiresias  III  36.     The  ordinary  form  of  this  word  in  English 

is  Tiresias,  the  penult  being  short  (Gk.  Te^T/cia?)  ;  but  we  must 

scan  III  36  thus 

//    / 
And  Tiresias  and  Phineus,  prophets  old. 

Has  not  Milton  here  taken  the  accent  of  the  original  Gk.  form 
Teiprjcrias  ?  As  to  ia,  though  synizesis  is  indeed  exceptional  under 

the  primary  accent,  it  nevertheless  does  occur  ;  cf.  deities  VI  1  57, 

/  /  /  -  / 

the  diphthong  oi  as  in  choice,  pursuers,  satiety  VIII  216,  Messiah 

XII  244,  etc. 

Todd's  note  runs  :  "  Dr.  Bentley  rejects  this  verse  ;   but  it  is 
genuine.  .  .  .     Dr.  Pearce  proposes  to  improve  the  line  by  reading 

And  Phineus,  and  Tiresias,  prophets  old." 

Proof  that  Milton  was  not  ignorant  of  the  proper  quantities  (and 
consequent  usual  accent)  of  Tiresias,  if  proof  be  needed,  is  found 
in  the  pentametre 

Lumina  Tiresian,  Ogygiumque  Linon.     Elegy  VI,  68. 

Dalila  IX  1061.     In  this  Hebrew  word  the  penult  is  long. 

Hence  we  say  Delilah.      In  IX  1061  we  must,  however,  accent 

differently  : 

I  II    I  I 

Of  Philiste-an  Dalilah,  and  wak'd. 

So  in  the  three  occurrences  in  S.  A.  229,  724,  1072.  Milton  seems 
to  have  preserved  the  word's  Hebrew  accentuation  which  was 


Syllabification  and  Accent  in  the  Paradise  Lost.  73 

final, — an  accentuation  probably  reflected  in  one  of  the  Gk.  forms 

of  the  word,  AaXtSa. 

/       \ 
The  classical  form  Proserpina  IX  396  is  partially  anglicized  in 

IV  269  by  the  omission  of  the  final  vowel,  but  it  retains  the 

/ 
classical  accent,  thus  Proserpin(e).1 

Similarly  Ecbatana  P.  R.  Ill  286,  and  Ecbatan  XI  393. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  a  phenomenon  just  the  reverse  of  this, 
as  cited  by  Guest  in  his  English  Rhythms,  p.  87  (Skeat's  edition). 
"  Nothing  was  more  common,"  he  says,  "  down  to  the  end  of 
Elizabeth's  reign,  than  to  find  the  perfect  Latin  word  with  its 
accents  distributed  according  to  the  English  fashion  : 

Till  that  the  pale  Saturnus  the  colde 
That  knew  so  many  of  adventures  olde. 

Chaucer.     C.  T.  2445. 
Such  one  once  was,  or  once  I  was  mistaught, 

A  smith  at  Vulcanus'  own  forge  upbrought. 

Hall.     Satires,  2,  1,  45." 

Accent  varying  for  substantival  and  verbal  use. 

The  words  absent,  confine,  desert,  frequent,  importune,  incense, 
subject,  torment,  are  accented  on  the  second  syllable  when  verbs,  on 
the  first  when  nouns  or  adjectives  (though  P.  R.  has  the  adjective 

importune  in  II,  404). 

The  native  crystallized  past  participle  uncouth,  which  is  used  as 
an  adjective,  has,  substantially,  initial  accent,  not  final  accent  like 
a  verb.  The  accent  was  already  initial  in  Anglo-Saxon.  In  con- 
temporary English  it  has  become  final. 

So  Milton  accents  far-fet  (= far-fetcht)  and  well-coucht  initially. 

Among  foreign  verbs  not  having  recession  of  accent  are  con- 
template, illustrate,  and  solemnize. 

The  two  native  compound  verbs  out-do  (occurring  once),  and 
fare-well  (occurring  three  times  where  the  accent  can  be  determined) 
have  initial  accent. 

1  This  is  unlike  present  usage,  according  to  which  the  anglicized  form  of  the 
word  has  recessive  accent,  thus  Pro8erpin(e). 

6 


LIFE. 


I  was  born  in  Baltimore  in  1874.  After  spending  the  years  1885- 
1891  at  Mr.  Marston's  University  School  for  Boys,  I  entered  the  Johns 
Hopkins  University  and  studied  mathematics  for  one  year  and  the 
classics  for  three  years,  receiving  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in 
1895.  After  half  a  year  of  advanced  classical  work  and  half  a  year 
spent  in  the  study  of  the  elements  of  Anglo-Saxon,  I  took  up  in  1896 
graduate  English  work  under  Professor  James  W.  Bright,  and  courses 
in  German  under  Professor  Henry  Wood.  During  the  academic  year 
1900-1901,  I  held  the  position  of  Fellow  in  English.  For  valuable 
instruction  in  phonetics  and  historical  French  grammar  I  am  much 
indebted  to  Dr.  Armstrong.  My  particular  attention  has  been  called 
to  metrical  subjects  by  Dr.  Bright's  original  and  interesting  ideas  on 
metre. 


14  DAY  USE 

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